Playing With Fire
by vicious-kitsune
Summary: Sanji is arrested but it isn't Luffy that comes to his rescue. What's going to happen between Ace and Sanji? And what's happening between Zoro and Luffy as they and the rest of the crew try to get their cook back? Shonenai ZoLu, AceSan.
1. Arrested

_This is not only my first One Piece fic but also my first shonen-ai fic. Well the first that doesn't read like it was written by a five year old, so I'm not sure how it's going to turn out. It may yet start to read like a five year olds' work. Since its shonen-ai so if you don't like it don't read it, simple as that._

_Pairings are going to be Ace/Sanji and Zoro/Luffy. There might be some reference to Robin/Nami at the end, but I'm not really sure about that yet._

_And in case any of you couldn't guess my name's not Eiichiro Oda so I don't own One Piece._

Playing with Fire

Arrested 

Sanji walked back through the port caring a multitude of different bags and one large box. All of them filled with vegetables, wine and other cooking ingredients he'd need. He was grateful the butcher had offered to deliver his order to their boat. Carrying meat for the stomach that was equivalent to a small army that was Luffy and then enough for everyone else on top of that was a real pain.

The Going Merry came into view but there was no sign of Usopp on deck. Sanji reasoned the sniper had gone below deck to see what chemicals he was running low on. He called out to him to come and give him a hand. A few minutes later and there was still no sign of the sniper. He began to load his supplies on the ship by himself

"I ought to give him a good kick," Sanji grumbled as he made his last trip onto the deck with the last of his shopping. "Lazy liar, knowing him he's probably suffering from a bout of a rare disease that prevents him from doing any heavy lifting."

He walked over to the galley and looked through the small window. Sat at the table was Usopp. His head was resting against his hands almost as if he were cowering. Sanji kicked the door open; he'd soon give him a reason to cower.

"Usopp what the hell are you doing? Didn't you here me call you for some help?" Sanji practically shouted.

"Sorry Sanji, I couldn't…" Usopp began.

"You couldn't," Sanji cut him off. "What the hell's that supposed to mean?"

"It means I wouldn't let him," a voice from under the table said.

Fullbody climbed out from under the table and took a seat next to Usopp on the bench. He had a gun pointed at his head.

"What the hell are you doing here? Weren't you under a major flagship last time I saw you? I wouldn't have thought the marines would be letting someone as useless as you out on your own," Sanji said.

"I got permission after I explained my plan for capturing you all. And the bst part of it is I get to take you prisoner first."

"You're delusional if you think you're taking anyone prisoner. I think I'd like to kick you off our ship now."

"I wouldn't recommend that," Fullbody said as he stamped on the ship's floor.

From below twenty marines soldiers rushed out on deck and surrounded Sanji. They all aimed guns at his chest.

"Is this a joke? I can take these men out in about five seconds."

"And I can pull this trigger in about two. See what happens to your friend if you raise a leg against my men."

"You bastard. What do you want?"

"I'm placing you under arrest. Do you have anything to say about it?"

Sanji stood there. There was nothing he could do. Fullbody might have been bluffing about Usopp, but Usopp was a pirate and Fullbody a member of the marines so he probably wasn't. Sanji couldn't take that chance and let the sniper be shot.

"Thought not, chain him and don't forget his legs."

Fullbody took a Den Den Mushi from his pocket and put a call into the ship. Two men had fetched some chains from below deck. One of them chained Sanji's wrists while the other chained his ankles.

Sanji tried to walk and nearly fell flat on his face. If it weren't for the fact that he had good balance he probably would have fallen. He couldn't even stretch his legs out enough to walk yet alone kick anyone.

"Make your way to the deck, our ship will be here soon," Fullbody ordered.

Guns poked into Sanji's back ushering him in the direction of the deck. Fullbody rose and watched as Sanji shuffled his way over to the stairs. He finally had that bastard cook and with the co-operation of the marine base he had borrowed a ship from they could get the entire Straw Hat crew. It would go a great way to repairing his tarnished image with the marines. Hell it would probably leave him in a better position then before he set foot on Baratie.

"Sanji I'm sorry," Usopp cried as he pushed past Fullbody to get to the deck. "They snuck up on me when I went to the bathroom. I couldn't do anything."

"Shut him up, but don't kill him," Fullbody ordered.

A few of the men began to punch and kick at Usopp till he collapsed to the ground. He was still conscious but quite badly beaten. They tied a gag round his mouth so he wouldn't be able to call for help; they then tied him to the ship's mast facing the ocean.

A marine ship pulled up against the Going Merry. Usopp noted the sails had the number 15 on them. That must mean they were part of the 15th division. They would be able to track down what island they were based at and rescue Sanji. The marines really were stupid to let him see that bit of information.

Two men threw Sanji onto the marine ship since he couldn't jump over himself. Once all the men were on board the ship set off and Usopp was left alone again.

"Usopp we're back!" Chopper called as he climbed on deck followed by Nami and Robin.

The three of them had all gone to the bookshop together. Nami had found several maps she thought would be useful and Robin a new history book. But the shop had no medical books that Chopper didn't already own. He was feeling disappointed and hoped the sniper would have some wonderful story for him. He thought maybe Usopp had had to defend their ship from the marines while they'd been gone and he wanted to be the first to hear all about it.

"That's strange," Robin said, "it looks like Sanji must have been back because there's some shopping by the kitchen door. But why didn't he put it away?"

"There's some rope round the mast. We didn't do that did we?" Nami questioned as she went to investigate.

She walked round to the other side to find Usopp sat against the mast, the rope binding him to it and a gag over his mouth. He was in pretty bad shape, covered in cuts and bruises.

"Chopper come here," Nami called as she removed the gag from his mouth.

"What is it Nami?" Chopper asked as he trotted round to join her. He began to panic when he saw Usopp. "Quickly someone call a Dr."

"That's why I called you."

"Oh yeah, I'm the Dr."

"They took Sanji," Usopp began.

"You can tell us everything later. We should treat your wounds first."

Nami untied the rope and Chopper transformed to his larger form and bent down to pick Usopp up. He supported him as they walked together below deck.

Chopper examined him; luckily none of his wounds were too serious. He cleaned the cuts with some antiseptic and bandaged Usopp. Nami and Robin stood by the doorway waiting for Chopper to finish treating him so they could find out what happened.

"What happened to Sanji?" Chopper asked.

"We're back!" Luffy's voice echoed round the ship before Usopp could begin to explain.

"Where's everyone?" Zoro wondered.

"I don't know but Sanji left me food."

Zoro grabbed Luffy's vest before he could eat their supplies.

"I'm sure that's not meant for you. What the hell's that moronic love cook thinking leaving food where you can see it?"

"But Zoro I'm hungry."

Luffy pouted turning puppy dog eyes up at him. Zoro looked away that look of Luffy's had a tendency to make him lose his resolve and that wouldn't be good for them now. He was the only thing preventing them from losing their food.

"We only just ate."

"That was ages ago cos you got us lost coming back to the ship."

"Me? You're the one that got us lost."

"Shut up you two and come below deck," Nami called from the stairs.

"Huh Nami, what's going on?" Luffy questioned.

"Just hurry up."

Zoro kept a hold on Luffy; he didn't trust the boy not to make a dash for the food before going below deck. They joined Robin and Nami the later having taken her position by the doorway again.

"What happened Usopp?" Luffy asked as soon as he saw him.

"The marines arrested Sanji," Usopp began.

"Figures that idiot would get himself caught," Zoro said.

"It wasn't his fault it was mine. The guy that shot at us when we first got to Baratie, then again after leaving Nami's village. Iron Fist something or another, he was the one that took him. He threatened to shoot me if Sanji tried to resist. I'm sorry Luffy."

"So what do we do now?" Nami asked.

"Isn't it obvious? We rescue Sanji!" Luffy declared. "There's no way we can just leave him."

"But we don't know where Sanji is."

"The 15th division has him," Usopp said. "I saw the sails so I know the ship came from the 15th division."

"It's probably going to be a trap for the rest of us then if they let you see that," Robin said.

"That doesn't matter. Sanji's our cook we can't leave him in jail," Luffy said.

Ace was going through several files in one of the offices of the 15th division navel base. He'd asked around for information about Blackbeard and someone had pointed him in this direction. It had been well over two hours since he'd first arrived and he'd gone through most of the files in that time. He was beginning to suspect that he'd questioned his informant a little too harshly. The guy had probably just told him to look here to get away from Ace.

"Damnit!" he exclaimed as he threw yet another file on the floor.

The office was now completely littered with papers. Before Ace could grab another file to start looking through he fell asleep. His body collapsing to the ground amidst all the papers he'd already searched through.

Sanji was pushed inside the small cell. He tripped against the metal bar that ran along the ground. He felt thankful that they'd chained his hands in front of him, or he'd have been kissing the concrete floor. The two men that had lead him there pulled the door shut and locked it behind them. He managed to pull himself up and shuffle over to the bed where he sat and waited. He knew he'd have to wait at least a day before they would come and rescue him. Nami had said it would take another day for their position to be recorded and Nami was never wrong about anything like that.

Clumsily he reached into his pocket and managed to pull out a pack of cigarettes and his lighter. He managed to light a cigarette and get everything back in his pockets.

"I bet you never expected this to happen," Fullbody stated smugly from the other side of the bars.

"I guess I didn't expect someone as stupid as you to come up with such a clever plan. But it doesn't matter cos I won't be here for long," Sanji replied as he sat back and tried to make himself look comfortable to annoy Fullbody.

Fullbody simply unlocked the door and stepped in he watched Sanji carefully as he continued to smoke, not paying any attention to his presence. As Sanji went to take another drag Fullbody punched him hard across the face. The cigarette he had been holding fell to the floor as Sanji fell against the bed. Blood trickled from his mouth.

Fullbody laid into him not pulling a single punch. The cook had been asking for it ever since he showed him up at Baratie. Now was his chance for his long awaited revenge.

"What the hell are you doing in here?" a voice shouted.

"Huh?" Ace mumbled as he woke.

He sat up from the floor and pulled a piece of paper that had stuck to his face off. He wiped the drool at the corner of his mouth that had caused the sheet to stick to him.

"I said what are you doing here?" the marine soldier repeated as he pointed his gun at Ace.

"Go to hell," Ace said as he shot a ball of fire at the soldier.

There wasn't time to look through the other files now that he'd been caught in the base. It would probably have been useless anyway. If he ever found that guy again he was going to punch him a few more times for lying to him.

He ran out the office and looked down both sides of the corridor. Both ways were empty, but Ace couldn't remember which way he'd used to get in. He turned left, deciding it was probably the right way.

He came to a flight of stairs that lead down. He didn't remember climbing up any stairs, but then again he didn't really remember how he got in. He soon realised that he'd made a mistake he should have gone right. Ace was now in the detainment facility of this base. He turned round to leave when a figure collapsed on the floor caught his eye. As he looked closer he realised he knew the person. It was the cook from his brother's ship. And he'd been worked over pretty badly.

Ace debated for a moment as to whether he should take the cook. Luffy would probably be on his way to rescue him so the cook wouldn't be there long. But at the same time if he left him there would he be able to stand any more beatings?

Ace decided the best thing to do would be to take him. He could wait at the next island and Luffy could catch up to them and reclaim his cook. His decision made Ace melted the lock on the door and kicked it in. The commotion caused Sanji to stir.

"You here already Luffy?" Sanji asked not looking up from the ground.

"Wrong brother," Ace replied as he bent down to help him up.

"Ace?"

"The one and only, come on let's get out of here."

Ace put Sanji's right arm round his shoulder and his left round Sanji's waist. Slowly they made their way up the stairs only to be greeted by what were possibly all the men stationed at this base. Fullbody was amongst them.

"What the hell are you doing with him?" Fullbody raged to Ace.

"He's a friend of my brother's I thought I'd be nice and break him out."

"He's staying under arrest. And I'm placing you under arrest too."

"Not likely."

He held out his right hand and sent a stream of fire towards all of them. They went up in flames and began to run around in a panic. Most of them dropping to the floor and rolling for all they were worth. Ace and Sanji tried to pick their way through the mass of bodies on the floor. With the condition Sanji was in it was quite difficult.

Some of the men were beginning to pick themselves up, the fire on them extinguished. There wasn't time for them to walk through. Ace quickly swept Sanji into his arms. With the cook in his arms like a bride Ace ran out of the base.

They made it to his small boat without being chased. The men that had extinguished themselves were probably too busy helping their friends and stopping the base from going up in flames to come after them. He laid Sanji down in the boat and set sail.

_So what do you think? Does anyone even want me to continue? Please review and let me know. Also if anyone knows what the little snail phones are called could they please let me know, I lent my entire One Piece to collection to a friend so I can't check it. And if anyone could also tell me the names of Zoro's swords since I can't check it myself and I might want to use it later on I'd appreciate it._


	2. Cooking for Luffy

_I didn't expect such a good response to the first part, so I'd like to give my thanks again to everyone who reviewed part 1. So thank you very much everyone._

_I do not own One Piece unfortunately. The most I own are some DVDs, mangas and seven cute little key rings. _

Playing With Fire

Cooking for Luffy

The straw-hat crew had gathered in the galley, they needed to decide on their next course of action. For once Luffy's gung ho attitude was not going to do them any good; after all they wanted to infiltrate a navy base.

"So how do we go about this?" Usopp asked.

"First we need to find out where the 15th division is," Robin said.

"Me and Zoro can do that," Luffy declared.

"Not a chance someone that can understand directions needs to do it," Nami interjected.

"So who's going to do it?"

"I'll do it of course who else could understand directions better then me?"

"And I'll help; Usopp can go into town to get the supplies he needs, Chopper you should stock up on your medical supplies since we don't know what condition Sanji will be in and someone will need to guard the ship. So the other person will be free to do what they please," Robin said.

"Me and Zoro can guard the ship," Luffy declared.

Robin nodded it didn't need both of them to do the task since either of them would be capable of doing the job alone. But she had noticed recently that their captain seemed to want to be near Zoro as often as possible. She didn't question it.

"Once we get to the base we'll need to get Sanji out as soon as possible. They'll probably have kept him alive as bait for the rest of us."

"Bait?" Luffy questioned.

"They deliberately let Usopp see what division the ship was from, therefore they want us to try and rescue him. I'd say they were aiming to take at least you, Zoro and myself into custody too, since we have bounties on our heads."

"So once we find the base we storm it right?" Usopp questioned.

Robin shook her head.

"We're trying to infiltrate not storm. Only a few people should actually go."

"So me, Luffy and Zoro will go."

"I think it would be best if Luffy and Zoro go alone. We need to create as much destruction as possible in the shortest space of time, we don't know how long we'll need to stay on that island till our position is logged. So to keep them of our backs it'd be a good idea if they were too busy worrying about their base and it's men to come after us."

"So me and Zoro go in, trash the place and beat up as many people as possible then rescue Sanji," Luffy summarised.

"I guess that's all decided then," Nami said.

"That just leaves us with one more problem," Robin began.

"I'm hungry," Luffy whined.

"Who cooks?" she concluded.

Ace docked the small boat on the beach. A forest began at the end of the beach. Whether any people lived deeper in the forest he didn't know, but he assumed there was no town or there would have been a port.

He'd have to sit on guard for a bit just in case there were any people and they weren't friendly. He'd been up all night steering the boat and checking over Sanji's wounds. He was quite tired but decided he could hold off on sleep for another couple of hours.

He carried Sanji on shore and laid him down about half way up the beach. He on the other hand had slept since Ace had rescued him. He didn't even flinch when a couple of plasters were stuck on his face, one over the bridge of his nose the other at the corner of his mouth. There wasn't anything else he could do for any of Sanji's other wounds, they were all bruises and plasters didn't work on bruises.

Ace gathered an armful of twigs and dead grass and started a fire. He wanted something to do; normally he'd have gone exploring the island while he waited for his position to be logged. But he couldn't leave Sanji. So building a fire was about the most he could do.

He played with the fire's flames; making them jump higher or turning them into different shapes. But he soon grew bored of playing and fell asleep, his head hitting the ground mere inches away from the fire.

That was how Sanji found him when he woke up a little later. He could vaguely remember being rescued by Ace, but nothing after that. He sat up slowly, his body ached but it would pass in a day or two.

He also noted that the island looked like it was probably deserted. Which meant they'd be hunting and scrounging for food. It wasn't ideal but preferable to starving. He decided to go gather some food now and prepare a breakfast, it was the least he could do to thank Ace.

Sanji went off into the forest and found it to be full of fruits and vegetables. He took off his jacket and made it into a pouch to carry everything in. He began to gather a large selection of the various fruits and vegetables around him.

His name was being called; Ace had obviously woken up. Casually he stepped out of the forest and went to sit down by Ace and sort through all the food he'd collected.

"You had me worried for a moment, I thought native tribals had taken you away to cook you. I don't think Luffy would have forgiven me if I'd let his cook get cooked," Ace said.

"They would have taken you too," Sanji stated as he sorted his food into piles of fruit and vegetables.

"I guess you're right. You want me to get any more food for breakfast?"

"See if you can find some meat."

Ace nodded as he stood up and wandered over to the edge of the forest.

"Oh and Ace, thanks for yesterday," Sanji called after him.

"No problem," Ace shouted back as he ventured in.

There was something poking his arms. Zoro tried to swat it away but the poking persisted. In fact it was getting worse, he hit at it harder but it just punched him in the arm. Aggravated he rolled onto his side and opened his eyes to come face to face with Luffy.

"Zoro I'm hungry, I want breakfast," Luffy whined.

"So go make yourself some and let me sleep."

"I want someone to make me breakfast."

"So go ask Usopp."

"But you said last night if Usopp ever so much as looked at a kitchen utensil with the intention of using it you'd cut of his nose."

Had he said that? He probably had said something along those lines. After Robin had asked who would cook Usopp quickly volunteered declaring that no one on the ship would be able to cook a better meal then the Great Captain Usopp.

The Great Captain Usopp then proceeded to burn everything, even the noodles. Zoro would have thought it impossible to burn noodles, but apparently there was nothing in the kitchen that Usopp couldn't burn. After the amount of things that were burnt last night he decided they were lucky to still have a kitchen.

"Please make me some breakfast Zoro," Luffy continued to beg as he used his puppy dog eyes.

Zoro didn't look away in time and soon found he was swinging his legs over the edge of his hammock. Luffy cheered as he grabbed his wrist and dragged him to the kitchen.

"Lots of meat Zoro, I want lots and lots of meat!"

"You always want lots of meat," Zoro replied from the fridge.

He came out with lots of bacon and sausages, some mushrooms, onions and tomatoes. He put them all on the side and went back to get some eggs. He'd just make a fry-up, sod making pancakes for Nami and Robin they'd have to learn to go without till Sanji returned.

Luffy stretched his arms over to Zoro and put something over his neck. He quickly tied it round Zoro's back.

"What the hell…?" Zoro questioned as he looked down to see Luffy had put Sanji's pink panda apron on him. "I am not wearing this."

Roronoa Zoro did not wear aprons. He was a once feared bounty hunter and now feared pirate. Aprons were not something he wore.

"Aww," Luffy pouted. "Please wear it Zoro, you'll make a mess if you don't."

"You didn't make Usopp wear it last night so I'm not wearing it."

"And Usopp made loads of mess, that's why you should wear it."

Then Luffy made those puppy dog eyes again. Before Zoro knew it he was cutting tomatoes in half whilst still wearing the apron; cursing under his breath.

The door to the galley opened and Usopp walked in. Zoro turned round and wished he hadn't almost immediately. The sharp shooter was about to start laughing at him. After the disaster he had caused last night he dared to laugh.

"You make one sound and I swear I'll give your breakfast to Luffy," Zoro said before Usopp could burst out laughing.

"Really?" Luffy questioned excitedly.

"Really."

Luffy jumped up and ran towards Usopp, he wanted to make the sharp shooter make a sound. Any sound would do; he just wanted to get his share of breakfast. Usopp ran from the galley below deck with his hand clamped over his mouth. Luffy followed after him.

Zoro's plan had worked he was now alone and could take of the stupid goddamn apron. He hung it up on its peg and went back to preparing breakfast. He wasn't alone for long as Luffy came running back in.

"Is it ready yet?" he asked as he sat at the table expectantly.

"No where near ready. What happened to Usopp?"

"He's hiding somewhere below deck, I can't find him."

"Too bad he never made a sound so you don't get his breakfast."

"But Zoro I'm really, really hungry. I want his breakfast too."

"You can't have it."

"Can I have yours then?"

"You can't have mine either. Or Nami's or Chopper's or Robin's. You can have your own and I'll give you extra meat."

"I get extra meat! Yosh! I want to help so it'll be ready faster."

Luffy jumped up from the bench where he had sat and ran over to stand by Zoro. The mushrooms were pushed towards him and Zoro handed him a knife.

"Cut those and be careful not to cut yourself."

Luffy began to cut up the mushrooms as Zoro moved onto the onions. He had sliced half of the mushrooms. As he started his next one he felt the knife slice though his skin rather then the mushroom. He cried out more in shock then in pain.

Zoro turned to see blood trickling from his captain's left index finger and said captain waving his left arm around.

He grabbed Luffy's arm stopping him from moving it too much. The blood was flowing quite freely. He wasn't even thinking as he put the finger in his mouth to try and stop the bleeding.

Luffy looked up at Zoro slightly confused as his first mate sucked on his finger. He'd done the same thing himself numerous times but no one had ever done it for him. It felt strange to have his finger in Zoro's mouth; but at the same time it felt nice. He felt a sense of both relief and longing as Zoro pulled the still bleeding finger from his mouth.

"Chopper's probably got a plaster he can put on it," Zoro said.

He held Luffy's hand above his head. Luffy tried to pull it back down but Zoro held his wrist firmly not letting him move it.

"What are you doing?" Luffy asked.

"It'll slow the flow of blood if you hold it up so it won't bleed as much."

"How does it do that?"

"Something to do with gravity."

"But wait when I hold my arm down it has to go against gravity. Why doesn't gravity stop it then?"

"I don't know. You should ask Chopper I bet he knows."

He left Luffy with Chopper and went back to cooking. He didn't know how the love cook did it; Luffy was a lot to handle in the kitchen. It almost made him miss Sanji.

Ace had been wondering in the forest for nearly half an hour. Sure it was full of food but not the meat variety. He was getting bored of hunting they'd just have to go without meat. He could try again later, for now he was just hungry and wanted breakfast.

He was about to turn back when a cave caught his eye. He decided to give the cave a try before giving up completely. There was a good chance there was something of the meat variety living in there.

His hunch turned out to be right, the cave appeared to be the home of a large grizzly bear. It stood up from where it was curled on the ground and rose to its full height. It roared at Ace to warn him off but Ace wanted breakfast.

"You must be joking," Ace stated.

He set fire to the bear, singeing its fur off as well as cooking it through all at once. He dragged his kill back to Sanji who had finished sorting out what he's gathered and put the vegetables onto twigs ready to be cooked.

"Find anything?" Sanji asked unable to see the bear Ace was dragging behind him.

"Yeah, its cooked and everything."

He dropped the bear beside Sanji and got the fire going again since it had died down. Sanji rested the vegetables in the fire and in five minutes they were roasted through enough to start eating.

"How long is it going to be before they catch up to us? I know it's going to take a day for the position to be logged at the island we were on Nami said. But what about the one with the base?"

"That one takes a week."

"You mean I have to go a whole week without seeing Nami-san or Robin-chan?"

"Afraid so and who's Robin?"

"She joined us after Luffy defeated Crocodile."

"I knew it was my little brother and not that smoking navy guy that beat Crocodile. He wouldn't dare touch one of the Seven Sea Knights. But Luffy…"

"Luffy's too stupid to think of consequences sometimes."

"So is he causing you all much trouble? I'm sorry if he is."

"Luffy as always magnetically attracts trouble."

"I'm not surprised to hear it. Thanks for always looking out for him, he needs a good crew behind him and I know with you guys he has one. It eases my mind a bit."

"I guess we must enjoy it or we'd all have jumped ship a long time ago."

"So what has he been dragging you all into this time?"

Luffy sat on the sofa as Chopper looked for a plaster that was the right size. He continued to hold his hand above his head like Zoro had told him to. Chopper hadn't told him not to so he assumed it was safe to do it.

"Is it true that holding my hand above my head like this will slow the blood flow because of gravity?" Luffy asked.

"That's right. How did you know that?"

"Zoro told me. But how does blood flow back up my arm when I hold it at my side? It still has to go up right?"

"Right again, arteries are what carry blood away from your heart and veins carry blood back to it. So its veins that carry blood against gravity and they have lots of valves in them that open and close so blood can't flow back down when a valve is closed. Arteries don't have anywhere near as many vales in them."

"I don't get it, what are valves?"

"You could say they're like little doors in your veins that close to stop blood from being pulled back down by gravity."

"So I'm full of little doors that open and close so the blood can go up. I think I get it."

Zoro had nearly finished cooking, it probably only needed another five minutes. He was getting out some plates ready to start dishing up when Luffy bounded back into the kitchen.

"Is it ready yet?" Luffy asked.

"Few more minutes," Zoro replied as he set the table.

"You were right about the gravity and the blood, it does work."

"You ask Chopper then?"

"Yeah, he said there were lots of little doors in veins and the doors close so the blood can't go back down. I don't exactly get it, but I sort of do. And Chopper understands it so that's good enough since he's the doctor. Chopper knows lots of medical stuff."

"Of course he does, he's our doctor. You picked him _because_ he was so good. Just like you picked the best navigator, the best sniper, the best cook even if he does need to improve his personality. And Robin knows lots of useful things too."

"You forgot the most important person that I picked, the best swordsman."

"But I'm not the best, Mihawk is still the best."

"You will be though, that's why I picked you because I knew you would be the best one day."

"Thanks Luffy."

Zoro removed Luffy's straw hat and affectionately rubbed the younger boy's hair. He put the hat back on the boy's head and went to call the others before he dished up. He needed to give them some warning that it was ready before he served it and Luffy inhaled everything. He dished up and set a plate before Luffy.

"Yosh I get served first!" Luffy cheered as the inhaling began.

_I did a couple of things I thought were evil in this chapter. First I put Zoro in an apron. I just had to do it; images of Zoro in an apron were invading my mind at 2am when I couldn't sleep. If I didn't use the idea it would have driven me insane forever. Then I had Ace torch a bear; I'm so sorry Mr. Bear._

_The next part will contain spoilers from the Skypiea and G8 arcs. It will only be sort of a very brief summary and I'll remind you all again at the start of the next part._

_Please leave a review to let me know what you think of this second part. Merry Christmas all. _


	3. Playing Games

_I said I'd warn you all again, there will be spoilers from Skypiea and G8 in this part. I don't really want to go into too much detail with it because if you know it you know it and don't need all the detail. _

_My disclaimer still applies; I still own nothing. _

Playing With Fire

Playing Games

"Zoro I'm bored," Luffy whined.

He was sat on the figurehead of the Going Merry as his first mate rested against the ship's mast. Zoro had been trying to sleep since the others had left almost an hour ago. But his captain wouldn't let him.

"Let's go into town, we can go to that restaurant again."

"We can't both go someone has to stay with the ship."

"But I'm bored."

"You can go, I'll stay here."

"But it's boring to go alone."

"Well you can either stay here and be bored or go into town and be bored. It's your choice."

"Not much of choice."

Luffy pouted as he jumped off the figurehead. He squatted down before Zoro who had again tried closing his eyes. Luffy's presence before him caused him to open them for what must have been the tenth time that morning.

His captain had waked him early and now he was preventing him from going to sleep. He could feel his anger growing inside him but then he looked at that pouting face, those innocent eyes and it just seemed to disappear. He just couldn't seem to stay angry at Luffy; especially when the young captain seemed so depressed. Or as depressed as Luffy ever could be.

"No one ever said it would be."

"Why don't we play a game?"

Luffy suggested brightly as a smile crept onto his face at the prospect. Zoro wasn't really in the mood to play a game. He couldn't even remember the last time he had played a game; he had given up such childish pursuits when he trained as a child to defeat Kuina. Then again it could be just the opportunity he needed to get some sleep.

"Sure, we can play hide and seek. I'll hide first ok?"

"Ok, I'll count to five."

"I need longer then five seconds to hide. Count to thirty and make sure you close your eyes too."

Luffy nodded eagerly as his eyes shut and he began to count. Silently Zoro crept below deck and into the storeroom. He found one of the empty boxes and climbed in. His swords wouldn't fitso he laid them down behind the box and covered them with a blanket that was lying around. He just managed to get the lid closed behind him as he heard Luffy shout thirty and announce he was coming.

Zoro just settled into the confined space and closed his eyes, finally able to get his much needed sleep.

Luffy had searched almost everywhere on the ship; the galley, the crow's nest, Nami's tangerine trees, both bedrooms and even the bathroom. There was only one place left that Luffy could think of. If Zoro wasn't there he might have to consider giving up.

Luffy dismissed that idea quickly. If Zoro weren't in the storeroom he'd just have to look everywhere again, more thoroughly. Monkey D. Luffy did not just give up.

He entered the storeroom and looked around at the multitude of boxes. Zoro had to be hiding in one of those boxes. He began to prise the lids off all of them.

He had been through all but one box and there was still no sign of Zoro. He was damn good at hiding. Luffy grasped the lid in his hands and lifted it up. There was his first mate, eyes closed and lightly snoring.

He was about to shout 'found you' when something stopped him. He just didn't have the heart to wake him. Zoro had got up early to cook for him and he had kept him awake all morning.

He sat back down on his heels and found he was more then content to just watch the swordsman sleep.

"So what trouble has Luffy been causing you?" Ace asked.

"All kinds. We've been scavenging on wrecked decks at the bottom of the ocean, been to an island in the sky and defeated a God and escaped from a heavily defended naval base."

"An island in the sky, that sounds interesting."

"It really was, there were some many beautiful angles there."

"Yeah, I'm sure there were."

Ace hadn't spent much time with Sanji; but you didn't need to spend much time with the cook to know that women occupied the vast majority of his thoughts. Women and cooking seemed to be the two things he predominately thought of. Everything else was probably inconsequential.

"Did Luffy defeat the God on that sky island?"

"Yeah, he wasn't so much a God really. He had a devil fruit power his was lightening. He claimed to be a God to scare the inhabitants of Skypiea into obeying all these rules he had.

"And there were all these natives who were descendents of the people who lived there when the island was still on the Grand Line. They wanted to reclaim their land from the God and his men.

"Everyone was just fighting everyone. In the end it was Luffy against this God. Of course rubber doesn't conduct electricity so Luffy couldn't get shocked. In the end he managed to beat this God down."

"How did you get into that navy base if it was so heavily defended?"

"That was when we were returning from Skypiea; we had the misfortune to land within its walls."

"Very bad luck."

"Some of us attempted infiltration and others got arrested. Luffy and me tried to pass ourselves off as chefs from another base. We did manage to fool them for awhile."

"I'm sure that didn't go so well for you with Luffy tagging along. How did you even managed it at all with Luffy?"

"I'm still not sure about that myself. It must have been that my culinary skills had them so dazzled they forgot about Luffy."

"Must have been, you are a damn good chef from what I remember."

"Thanks."

"So does Luffy have any plans for you?"

"Luffy never has plans."

"Why doesn't that surprise me?"

"I think the only plan he has is to find One Piece. But he doesn't even know how to go about that."

"I've told him and I'll tell you, Luffy won't be King of the Pirates."

"Don't be so sure about him."

"Luffy's never beat me even when he had the advantage of having a devil fruit power when I didn't. Even if I weren't helping Whitebeard Luffy wouldn't be able to be King of the Pirates. With me helping him he doesn't stand a chance."

"Well it'll be interesting finding out. After all you've not seen I'm really capable of yet."

"I've seen enough in Alabasta."

"A couple of big bugs are no challenge."

"You'll have to forgive me for being somewhat dubious considering how I found you in a prison cell. Sorry Sanji."

"There were circumstances involved, if that bastard marine hadn't threatened to kill Usopp I never would have been there."

"I see, perhaps it will be interesting then."

"How's your search for Blackbeard been going?"

"Still nothing at the moment."

"Perhaps Fire Fist Ace isn't that great either," Sanji challenged with a smirk.

He wasn't going to sit here and let Ace try and insult him. Not when Ace was giving him such an opportunity to retaliate.

"When a man is ahead of you and moves as often as you do, it is difficult to catch up to him. But I will catch up to him and he will pay for his actions."

The look of resolve in Ace's eyes hadn't changed. Sanji had noticed it when Ace first talked about Blackbeard and it was still there, if anything stronger. He admired that about Ace, he was facing such a difficult task and yet he never seemed to lose his determination.

"So what are we going to do here for a week? There's absolutely nothing here."

Sanji turned and looked at Ace. His companion had collapsed against the sand fast asleep. It was going to be a long week. He laid back and looked up at the sky, he wondered what Robin and Nami were doing now.

"Luffy, Zoro!" Nami called as she and Robin returned to the ship. "If those two idiots have left the ship I swear I'll kill them."

Luffy's head poked out from below deck. He held a finger against his lips as he motioned for them to come closer.

"What's wrong Captain-san?" Robin questioned.

"You can't be loud Zoro's sleeping."

"Is that all? Zoro's always sleeping, a herd of elephants couldn't wake him," Nami said.

"But he's really tired."

"That's your fault for waking him up so early to cook. Besides I don't see how Zoro can ever be tired since he sleeps so damn much."

"Did you find where the base is?" Luffy questioned, the talk of food reminding him that the two girls had gone to find where their cook was being held.

"Next island along, it's apparently not too far from this one. It shouldn't take us long to get there," Robin explained.

"If we have good weather I'd say about several hours should do it. But we should wait till morning to sail, we don't want to be trying to dock in the middle of the night."

"You mean I'm on breakfast duty again?" Zoro grumbled with a yawn as they all realised he'd joined them.

"Yup, you can cook breakfast again," Luffy said. "And you can wear the apron again."

Nami and Robin looked at each other with a raised brow. Zoro in an apron? Neither of them could quite believe it. Nami found herself wishing she'd known if she had got some photos she could have used them to get more money from Zoro.

They both felt Zoro's glare and hid the smiles from their faces.

"I am not wearing that stupid apron."

"Don't worry Ken-san I'll cook tomorrow morning. Its only fair we take it in turns."

"Although Usopp touches nothing," Nami said. "And I suppose I can cook tonight."

"What about lunch?" Luffy asked. "And snacks? Who's going to make them?"

"I put your lunch in the kitchen, we bought you something in town to eat," Robin explained as both she and Nami jumped out the way.

No sooner had she divulged the whereabouts of food then Luffy was gone. Nami hurried after him, there was meant to be enough food for the four of them. But if Luffy were left unattended it's be gone in less then ten seconds.

"Of all the people to get arrested why the hell did that moronic love cook have to let himself get caught?"

"You miss Sanji?"

"Like a hole in my head, I do miss the fact that he cooks so I don't have to. I would have used this opportunity to suggest we replace him but…"

"You know Luffy won't let Sanji go."

"You sign your life away when you join the Straw Hats. But that's not such a bad thing."

"No, I don't think it is," Robin said as she smiled one of her enigmatic smiles.

"If you want any lunch I suggest you hurry, I can't hold Luffy back much longer," Nami called from the galley.

The two of them went up to the galley to find Luffy had devoured nearly half the food. More than what his share was. Nami was trying her best to hold the captain at bay whilst she tried to eat something before it was all gone.

Zoro grabbed the younger boy round the waist and lifted him away from the table. Luffy fidgeted in his arms trying to break away from him. But Zoro kept his grip on the younger boy. He settled him against his hip and with his free hand began to eat.

Despite the fact he was being bodily restrained by Zoro Luffy still continued to try and eat. His arms stretching towards the food on the table, only to be slapped away by one of Robin's flowered hands.

"I'm still hungry though," Luffy whined after Robin had slapped him again.

"You can have a snack later," Nami said.

"But I'm hungry now."

"Since we're back why don't you and Ken-san go into town and get something to eat," Robin suggested.

"Yosh! Come on Zoro let's go, we can go to that restaurant again. They had good meat."

Luffy pulled against Zoro dragging the swordsman out the galley before he had time to relinquish his hold on the captain. Nami and Robin followed them out onto the deck.

"Just try not to get lost," Nami called after their retreating forms.

Robin just smiled as she watched Luffy drag Zoro by the wrist in the direction of what he assumed was the restaurant.

"Why'd you suggest they go into town?" Nami wondered.

"I just thought Captain-san and Ken-san could use some time alone," Robin replied.

"I see," Nami said with a knowing smile.

With some difficulty they managed to find their way to a restaurant. It hadn't been the one they had visited the other day but neither of them had been able to find it again. Zoro thought it would have been pointless anyway; Luffy had probably eaten them out of their meat supplies the other day.

By the time they had found this restaurant it was about the time they'd normally have dinner. Luffy had been whinging about snacks for the past few hours so Zoro was relieved they'd found this place. Luffy ordered ten meals for his starter while Zoro only had a few and a bottle of whisky.

Luffy now watched him questioningly as he knocked back glass after glass of whisky and Luffy continued to eat.

"What ya drinking?" Luffy asked.

"Whisky."

"Can I try it?"

"You wouldn't like it."

"I still want to try it," Luffy declared as he stretched over the table and grabbed the bottle.

He tipped half the remaining contents down his throat, which was almost a quarter of the bottle. He coughed as he pulled the bottle away from his lips and Zoro laughed a little at him.

"I told you you wouldn't like it," Zoro said as he reclaimed his alcohol.

"I do toooo like it," Luffy slurred.

Zoro should have seen this coming. He could drink several bottles in one night and hardly feel the alcohol's effects. That wasn't surprising since he drank on a regular basis, or at least when he could steel some booze from Sanji. Luffy on the other hand drank milk on a regular basis. The boy probably couldn't handle one glass without feeling the effects and he'd just downed a quarter of a bottle.

"Come on we should get going," Zoro decided.

"But I only just started eating," Luffy whined.

"If you eat anything else you'll probably be sick."

"Will not, I never been sick. You know I never, ever, never, never get sick."

"You won't be sick because you're ill, you'll be sick because you're drunk."

"Am not. Just a little bit more, pleaseeeee."

"What you haven't finished by the time I finish this bottle gets left."

Zoro immediately regretted his words. No sooner had he uttered them then Luffy was shovelling everything into his mouth at a speed that was twice as fast as usual. He tipped the rest of the whisky down his throat and quickly grabbed Luffy before he could finish what little remained of his meals.

He left some money on the table and began to drag Luffy outside. The younger boy tripped at every obstacle and Zoro had to catch him around ten times before they were even outside.

By the time they were outside Luffy was heavily leaning against his first mate, his arm slung round Zoro's broad shoulders while Zoro's arm rested on his captain's waist. It'd take them all night to get back to the ship at this rate Zoro decided. He shifted his right arm up Luffy's back while he swept his left under Luffy's thighs and lifted him off the ground.

"Thanks Zoroooo," Luffy mumbled as he snuggled against Zoro's chest. "Walking's hard for some reason."

"It's because you're drunk," Zoro explained.

"But I'm not," Luffy protested.

"Trust me you're drunk."

"How would you know? Have you ever been me drunk?"

"Fortunately not, but I doubt you've ever been you drunk before. So you don't know what it feels like. I suggest you remember this feeling for future reference."

"This feels nice, you're comfortable. So drunk feels nice. I'll remember that."

Zoro gave up; it was nearly impossible to get through to Luffy in his current condition. He looked down to see Luffy had fallen asleep curled against his chest. At least he wouldn't have to try explaining the concept of being drunk anymore.

Sanji sat shivering by the fire. It got cold at night on this island apparently. Even though he had put his jacket back on he was still cold. He glanced over at Ace unable to believe that he could just sit there without so much as a t-shirt and not be cold. Just looking at him made Sanji notice how cold he was even more.

He inched closer to the fire. He was getting dangerously close, any closer and he was likely to be in it. But being a cook Sanji could stand to get closer then most people could.

He still couldn't get warm though. He kept turning around so different sides of his body were up against the fire, so every part of him would have a chance of feeling warm while the rest felt cold.

Ace watched him with a smirk. It was amusing to watch him shift position every five minutes or so.

"You cold?" Ace questioned.

"Freezing, how can you just sit there with hardly any clothes?"

"I'm made of fire remember."

Sanji hadn't thought about that. He'd thought Ace's lack of clothing was due to the fact that it'd mostly get burned. But why wear clothes if you were already warm? Right now he wished he were made of fire. It reminded him of being in Alabasta again, heat during the day and cold at night. Only this island wasn't a desert.

"I wonder how Vivi is?" he mused aloud to himself.

"She's probably ok, you guys helped her take care of the problems in her country and she's a Princess. I'm sure she's got it better then us at the moment. At least she'll be warmer then you."

Sanji turned again so he was facing the fire to get some heat on his front after being reminded of how cold he was. Not that he really needed any reminding.

He felt warmth against his back. The cook turned to find Ace had settled himself behind him. Ace's legs were wrapped round his side and his arms around his waist.

"What are you doing?" Sanji asked panicked by the situation.

"If you want to be cold I'll go back over there," Ace said as he pointed to where he had previously been sitting.

Sanji thought about it for a moment. On one hand he was sat in the arms of another man, it was a somewhat strange thought to contemplate. On the other hand said man was incredibly warm and he was incredibly cold.

"Don't you have a blanket?" Sanji asked he would have preferred to be wrapped in a blanket rather then Ace.

"I don't have what I don't need."

"I take it that means no then."

"It does mean no, so it's me or be cold your choice."

It didn't seem like much of a choice. But he decided to go with Ace; as long as Nami and Robin didn't find out he'd be fine. He leaned back against Ace's broad chest and rested his head against his shoulder.

"You tell anyone and I'll kick you into the ocean," Sanji threatened.

"My lips are sealed."

_This chapter turned out to be quite difficult to write. I had plenty of ideas but every time I sat down my dog would want snacks, dinner, to go outside or to have attention. Since he's sick I can't deny him anything so I kept stopping and starting. Some ideas probably got lost along the way, but I think I managed to get most of them in here._

_Luffy's drunken logic is my own logic. Whenever some tells me I'm drunk I tell them 'Have you ever been me drunk?' I can get away with it cos I only say that to people who've never seen me properly drunk. Luffy's not fooling anyone though._

_I decided to stop being lazy and give chapters titles. I've changed the first two so they now have titles too. __Please leave a review to let me know what you thought. _


	4. Hung Over Rescue Attempts

_Apologies to anyone that was hoping for this chapter sooner, my workload at college has taken a turn for the crazy ever since I went back after Christmas. But here it is anyway._

_I made some amendments to the first chapter since I got some of my One Piece DVDs back the other day and realised Fullbody was at the Grand Line during Alabasta. So I just made a few changes to the conversation between Sanji and Fullbody._

_I don't own One Piece._

Playing With Fire 

Hung Over Rescue Attempts 

Sanji felt really warm, he couldn't remember the last time he'd felt so warm. He opened his eyes to see Ace lying in front of him. Ace's arms were wrapped round him and he panicked. He jumped up and out of the embrace before he could even remember that he had consented to it the previous night.

Ace's eyes groggily opened as his arms were jerked away from him.

"Morning sunshine," he said sleepily.

"Piss off," Sanji snapped.

He was definitely not in the mood for stupid nicknames. Having just woken in another man's arms what he needed was to get some distance between them and to not have said man calling him pet names as if they were lovers.

"You wake up on the wrong side of the bed?" Ace asked as he sat up.

"No I woke up being held by you."

"No need to get pissy, I was doing you a favour remember?"

Sanji sat down opposite Ace. The older man was right. Ace had done him a favour, but that didn't mean he wanted Ace using pet names for him.

"Thanks for keeping me warm last night, but call me sunshine again and I will have to kick you."

"Well you kick me and I might have to roast you. I wonder what the cook would taste like cooked?" Ace questioned with a smirk.

"You're not gonna find out, cos there's no way in hell I'll just let you set fire to me."

"And I'm not going to let you just kick me, the way you threaten to kick me in the ocean doesn't make me feel inclined to sit back and get kicked. Not that I feel inclined to be kicked anyway."

"Maybe we should start the morning over again, unless we want to try killing each other in the next ten minutes?"

"Ok, do you want to do it from where you are or do you want to lie down with me again?"

Sanji glared at him. Ace knew he shouldn't have said it but he couldn't resist. The cook looked quite cute when angry. Besides it was fun to wind him up.

"I'm sorry, we're fine where we are. Morning Sanji, what's for breakfast?"

"There's all that fruit that I gathered yesterday, or I could roast some vegetables again. You finished the bear last night, so unless you want to go hunting again meat's off the menu."

Ace contemplated his options for a moment. It had taken him ages to find anything the other day in the line of meat; right now he definitely didn't feel like trying to find anything again. That left just fruit and vegetables, neither of them were particularly appealing on their own for breakfast. But he didn't really have much choice.

"Guess I'll have fruit. I'm not sure I can have just vegetables morning, noon and night. Pass me some apples please."

Sanji grabbed a couple of apples form the small pile of fruit to his left and threw them over to Ace. The elder D. brother seemed to have the same appetite for apples as the younger one did. Or maybe Luffy had picked up the habit of eating apples whole core included from Ace. Either way they both ate them exactly the same.

Sanji took hold of an orange for himself; the fruit reminded him of Nami. He sighed as he began to peel the fruit, he couldn't believe it would be another week before he could see Nami or Robin again.

"Let me guess you're thinking about Nami and the other woman on your crew right?" Ace questioned.

"Her name's Robin. You shouldn't forget the beautiful Robin-chan's name."

"I'll bear that in mind if I meet her."

"Why wouldn't you meet her?"

"Maybe the recording here is going to be done soon. I'm supposed to be tracking someone down remember? Wouldn't staying here be wasting my time?"

"So you're going to leave me to freeze when the recordings done? Don't you even want to see your brother?"

"I'll wait and see. Maybe I'll leave if the recording gets done soon or maybe I'll wait around with you. It'd be nice to catch up with Luffy for a little while."

"Yeah well if you leave and I do freeze Luffy isn't going to be happy with you."

"I can handle my little brother. But maybe I will stay with you, it is fun being your personal heater," Ace said with a smirk, resisting the urge to wink. It would probably be a good idea if he didn't get Sanji too mad in one day.

"I thought we were passed conversations that lead to talk of kicking and setting fire to each other?"

"I'll behave," Ace said as he reached for more apples.

Luffy lay sprawled across the table shovelling food into his mouth with less rapidity then usual. Zoro was surprised the boy could eat anything at all; it appeared the hangover was all in his head. He dreaded to think what the consequences for the crew would have been if Luffy couldn't eat without regurgitating everything he consumed.

"Zoro why does my head hurt so much?" Luffy questioned between mouthfuls of food.

"Because you were drunk last night now you're hung over," the swordsman replied.

"Why aren't you hung over?"

"It's been a long time since I had a hangover."

"But you drank more then me."

"I drink more then you all the time; so I can handle alcohol and you can't."

"I can too, I'll prove it. Nami get some of Sanji's wine," Luffy ordered.

The navigator smacked Luffy across the back of his head. His hands reached up and clutched where she'd just hit him.

"You're not drinking again," Nami said to Luffy before turning to Zoro. "Why the hell did you even let him drink in the first place?"

"I thought I already explained that there was no stopping him. He just snatched the bottle from me; how many more times do I have to explain that?"

"The interest you owe me has just gone up because of this; you now owe me another 1000 beri."

"You can't just do that," Zoro growled.

"I can and I just did. Chopper please tell me you know a good hangover cure. We'll be docking in less then an hour and he has to go rescue Sanji."

The little reindeer looked up from his plate of food with a blank expression on his face.

"Technically a hangover isn't an illness so there isn't really a cure for it," the doctor replied.

Nami glared at him.

"But I can give him some pain killers to help," Chopper squeaked as he jumped from the table and ran from the galley.

Nami sank against the table in a pose similar to Luffy's own. She was besotted be idiots.

"The Great Captain Usopp knows a wonderful hangover cure. I'll just need access to some of the kitchen equipment."

Nami's head shot up and her glare turned to Usopp.

"On second thoughts maybe it won't help. It works best when the person's throwing up," Usopp muttered as he turned his attention back to his food.

Chopper trotted back into the galley clutching two pink pills he'd just made in his hooves. He placed them down before Luffy and instructed Zoro to get the captain some more water.

"If he takes them and drinks lots of water he should start to get better. He's hung over because he's dehydrated. So water will help," Chopper explained.

"Maybe we should wait before we rescue the love cook," Zoro said as he placed water before Luffy and tried to rouse the boy to take the tablets Chopper had made.

"That's not such a good idea Ken-san," Robin began. "We need to get Sanji before our ship is spotted. We don't want them to attack us before we can get to Sanji."

"What difference does it make if we beat them up on the ship or at their base?"

"If we attack their base it will diminish their strength so they won't be able to attack us while we wait for the recording to complete. If they attack us here at the ship they could still regroup at the base and make more attacks."

"It's not as if we couldn't beat them again."

"Would you stop complaining and just do what you're told," Nami demanded.

"Who says I have to do anything _you_ tell me. Last time I checked you weren't captain and there's no contingency plan that makes you captain should Luffy be incapacitated."

"Well if you want that interest to keep getting higher you can ignore me all you like. If you don't I suggest you shut up and do as you're told."

Zoro glared at the woman. Sometimes he felt like he could quite happily kill her. Then he remembered Luffy. While he was sure Robin would be able to get them through the Grand Line in Nami's place his captain wouldn't want to lose any of his nakama.

"Would everyone stop shouting?" Luffy said as he sat up to drink and take the painkillers.

"We're not shouting, it just seems loud to you because you're hung over," Zoro said as sympathetically as he could.

It had been a long time since he'd been hung over himself but that didn't mean he'd forgot the pain. He was quite sure Luffy's head felt like it was going to explode.

"Well if we can't put it off why don't I go on my own?" Zoro suggested.

"It'd be better if two of you went. We're talking about attacking a base not a random group of marines at sea," Nami replied.

"I'm capable of getting it done, but I could always take Robin with me and leave Luffy to look after you three. Besides Chopper isn't all that helpless when he starts transforming. I'm sure you'd be fine."

"That's a terrible idea," Usopp said.

The idea of being protected by a hung over Luffy and Chopper didn't thrill him. Their captain was reliable when he wasn't hung over; but Luffy had never had a hangover before yet alone fought with one.

As for Chopper the little reindeer could be quite reliable, after all it had been him that had helped Usopp defeat Mr. 4 and Ms. Merry Christmas. But sometimes he acted almost as cowardly as Usopp. He didn't feel safe being left with just those two for protection and he was quite sure Nami didn't either.

"We'll stick with the original plan," Nami said. "And before you start arguing against that idea just keep in mind your interest."

The swordsman had looked ready to make another argument against Nami's idea; but at the mention of the word 'interest' his words had died in his throat. He sank down lower on the bench and rested his head in his hands. He was not looking forward to attacking a marine base with a hung over Luffy.

"You sure you'll be ok with this Luffy?" Zoro asked his captain.

"I thought I said no more arguments."

"Maybe if you hadn't been thinking of yourself the whole time you'd have thought of asking Luffy. I'm sure he knows what he's capable of right now better then any of us."

"I'll be fine Zoro, I should just get some more sleep," Luffy said.

"Drink that water first please," Chopper instructed. "It should help you a bit."

"Meat will help too. Have some meat ready for when I wake up."

Luffy emptied the remaining contents of his glass and lay on the bench. He appointed Zoro his pillow since he'd been so comfortable the other night and laid his head against the swordsman's thigh.

"What are you…" Zoro began before he heard snoring.

Luffy was fast asleep and there was no point continuing his question. Zoro resigned himself to the fact that he had been made pillow and that any hopes of training before they docked had just disappeared.

It wasn't all so bad. Being used as Luffy's pillow actually felt kind of comfortable. He removed Luffy's straw hat so his head could rest against him better and began to rub his forehead hoping to help ease the younger boy's pain.

Sanji watched as Ace continued to eat apples. He must have been on his fourteenth or fifteenth. Sanji couldn't believe that he'd collected so many and that Ace could eat so many without touching a different fruit.

"So you want to explore the island today?" Ace asked as he reached for the last apple.

"But what if Nami-san, Robin-chan and the rest of them arrive?"

Sanji couldn't quite place the feeling but he didn't feel entirely right being alone in the depths of a forest with Ace. He almost felt nervous at the idea of it.

They would of course be alone on the beach but the chances of someone finding them on the beach were greater then in the forest.

"The recording takes a week remember?"

Sanji looked blankly at Ace for a moment. The elder D. brother was right, it was going to be at least a week before the Straw Hats turned up. He was going to have to get used to spending time alone with Ace.

"I guess you're right and I suppose we don't have anything else to do while we wait."

"Ok where do you want to go?"

"Well it's not like we've got much choice, it's either beach or forest. Guess we might as well see if the forest leads through to anything else."

Ace jumped up from here he'd been sat and began walking towards the forest. Slowly Sanji rose and followed Ace into the forest.

They walked through the trees in silence, Sanji stopping every now and then to gather more fruit and vegetables. He also noticed some herbs that he had overlooked when he first gathered food. He'd never actually used them before but recognised them from some books he'd read as a child. He had no idea what they'd taste like, but it would have to be better then the bland food they'd had the other night.

"I noticed you seemed to like oranges quite a lot, would that have anything to do with Nami?" Ace asked.

"I always liked them," Sanji replied as he grasped another handful of herbs.

"But did you like them as much before you realised Nami liked oranges?"

Sanji supposed his liking of oranges had increased since Nami had brought some of her trees onto the Going Merry. But that still didn't change the fact that he had really liked them before. And what business was it of Ace's what fruit he liked. Ace seemed to have a strange fondness of apples after all.

"What about you and apples?"

"They don't taste too sweet or too bitter. I just really like the taste; Luffy and me have liked them since we were kids. But you can't just answer a question with a question."

"I've always really liked oranges too," Sanji lied.

"Let me guess something about the sweet taste being like the sweet love of a beautiful woman."

"I don't think you understand the differences between a beautiful woman and food."

"Guess not, I only know enough about cooking to get me by. It's not like I can make anything half as good as you."

"I don't think you understand what I'm saying."

"Maybe not, but I don't suppose it matters."

"Not much time for either I guess."

"That's right. I'm not really that bothered about women even when I'm not busy chasing someone all over the Grand Line."

"Not really that bothered? It's not like you're clueless like your brother."

"Let's just say I've got other interests."

"Still being second in command of the White Beard pirates can't occupy that much of your time."

Ace sighed. He wasn't sure how else to make it clear to Sanji that he had more interest in the same sex as oppose to the opposite, without spelling it right out for him. Then again it was probably best if Sanji didn't know anything considering their sleeping arrangements from the other night.

The last thing he needed was the cook to think he was trying it on. If he wanted the week to go smoothly he was going to have to keep his mouth shut and be careful about what hints he dropped.

Though with Sanji's preoccupation with women he might not even stop to consider the meaning of his hints. It was possible he might be able to get through the week without getting kicked into the ocean.

Zoro sliced through the door to the marine base and stepped in cautiously with Luffy at his heels. There was absolutely no one around; he sheathed Wado Ichimonji but kept his hand on its hilt as he looked around for any sign of a marine.

"Where is everyone?" Luffy wondered as he rubbed at his head and followed Zoro through the halls.

His head still hurt, but his nap and Chopper's painkiller had helped ease it a little. At least rubbing his head helped a little more. And he was very grateful the world wasn't spinning like it had been the previous night. As it was he felt a little dizzy, but he was at least capable of walking without tripping over any objects that crossed his path.

Luffy didn't think a rescue would work that well if Zoro had to carry him through a marine base as he had carried him back to the ship the other night.

"I'm not sure, we should take a look around see if we can find anyone."

"Where do you think Sanji will be kept?"

They rounded a corner to find chaos, the walls, floor and ceiling of the hallway were thoroughly scorched and there were some traces of blood along the floor. A marine with a few bandages round his arm walked out from a doorway to their right. As soon as he saw the two members of the Straw Hat crew he froze.

Before he could call for help Zoro was in front of him, Yukibashiri at his throat. The marine gulped and looked between Luffy and Zoro.

"You took a crew mate of ours the other day. Where are you keeping him?" Zoro asked.

"You mean the blond guy right? He was broke out of here almost as soon as he was brought in," the marine explained.

"Who broke him out?"

"Fire fist Ace."

Luffy laughed. "Then I guess there's nothing we can do here."

"It explains the scorch marks everywhere," Zoro commented. "We might as well head back, Ace trashed this place so there's nothing for us to do."

"So I can go back to bed now?"

"Sure Luffy. Chopper can probably give you more tablets too."

"Yosh!" Luffy shouted as he pumped his fist in the air.

He brought it back down immediately to rub at his aching head. He had soon learned that shouting and hangovers did not mix.

"Come on, let's get you back to bed," Zoro said as he placed an arm over Luffy's shoulder to lead him out of the base.

As soon as they returned to the ship they were greeted by Nami's angry glare.

"What happened to rescuing Sanji? Don't tell me you two got beat cos he's hung over?"

"Maybe they couldn't rescue him because he's dead!" Usopp wailed.

"Sanji's dead?" Chopper questioned desperately looking back and forth from Zoro and Luffy to Usopp believing everything the latter had said.

"It's all my fault he's dead. I'm so sorry Sanji," Usopp continued to cry as he and Chopper clung to each other.

"Sanji's not dead. I'll explain everything but can we get him some more pain killers first?" Zoro asked Chopper.

The little doctor nodded as he hurried below deck to get some more tablets he'd prepared earlier. Luffy took the painkillers and went to lie down in his hammock while everyone else gathered in the galley.

"So Ace has Sanji," Usopp concluded after listening to Zoro's story of what happened at the base.

"Everything should be ok then, all we have to do is catch up to them. I'll bet they're probably waiting at the next island," Nami said.

"Who's Ace?" Robin asked.

"That's right, you never met him, he's Luffy's older brother. You might have heard of him though, Fire Fist Ace."

"Of the Whitebeard pirates, I've heard of him. So we'll just have to catch up to them."

"Any idea how long the recording's going to take here?" Zoro asked.

"I went into town with Chopper to ask while you were at the base. They said it'd be a week," Nami explained. "We should probably move the ship round to the other side of the island in case they recover from Ace's attack."

"I doubt that's going to be likely, the place was a real mess. But I guess it couldn't hurt to move the ship."

The galley was filled with the sound of Luffy shouting from below deck.

"MEAT!"

"Guess moving the ship can wait till later," Robin said as she went over to the fridge and began to remove a small mountain of meat.

_All done. No idea how long it's going to take me to get the next chapter out considering my workload. And I've got a one shot idea I want to work on before it drives me insane, no idea when that'll be out either. But it'll be full of ZoLu goodness, so keep an eye out for it._

_I've been trying to improve my grammar but I really don't think it's getting much better. So would anyone like to beta this for me? Let me know in a review or send me a message if you'd like to help me out._

_Guess I best go work on some of my poems or my play script, smacks head against desk. Please leave a review to cheer me up in the midst of all this stupid work. _


	5. Redbeard Rum

_Ok I warn you all now this chapter is filled with weirdness and cliché. I was having trouble writing anything for reasons I'll explain at the end and weirdness and cliché seemed to be the only way I could write anything. As such if anyone thinks I should have my fingers chopped off to prevent me ever typing again I can't say I blame you and I'll even provide a wakizashi or kitchen knife. Whatever you prefer._

_Thanks to Cursed Lone Wolf for the speedy beta. I appreciate it very much._

_I don't own One Piece and Redbeard Rum is the creation of Ben Elton and Richard Curtis from Blackadder, so oddly enough I don't own him either._

Playing with Fire

Redbeard Rum

Luffy sat pouting as he watched all the meat being put away. His first thought when he woke had been meat – it always was – but it was even more so now. He was feeling better and remembered that Nami's breakfast had consisted solely of eggs. He had been feeling too tired and too much in pain earlier to complain about it, but his head had finally stopped throbbing and he intended to make sure Nami understood that meat was an important ingredient to breakfasts.

"Nami, why can't I have meat?" Luffy asked.

"You had breakfast only a few hours ago; you can't just keep eating or we'll run out of food at sea," the navigator explained as she put away the last of the meat Robin had only just got out.

"But breakfast had no meat. Breakfasts need meat."

"Breakfasts don't need meat; you just want them to have meat. You're impossible to cook for – I don't know how Sanji does it."

"But Zoro and Robin managed to cook for me without any problem and Sanji always does."

"He's easy to cook for," Zoro interjected. "Just give him meat and he's happy."

"I can cook eggs well," Nami snapped. "Maybe we should all just eat out for one meal today."

"Did you just suggest doing something that would cost you money?"

"Nami must be ill," Usopp declared. "Quick, Chopper! Examine her for a rare money spending disease."

"I've never heard of a rare money spending disease," Chopper said, looking confused.

"It's so rare it's mentioned in only two medical books. But I have seen it before and would be able to tell you what you'd need to make the cure."

"Really? That's incredible!"

"Would you stop lying to him?" Nami said. "You all seem to have forgotten that I'm an excellent thief. It'll be no problem for me to steal enough to feed us and have more than enough for myself."

"But I thought you stole from pirates?" Usopp questioned.

"Did you forget there are other pirate ships here? It'll be easy for me to steal from a couple of them and then we can move round to the other side of the island."

"But you're a pirate now."

"Like that matters."

"Go now, Nami! I want to eat! The sooner you go, the sooner we have money and the sooner I can eat meat!"

"Fine. I'll go now."

"I'll come with you Navigator-san. You'll be able to steal more that way," Robin said.

"The rest of you can wait here."

"I wanted to look in the bookshop you wouldn't let me look at yesterday," Chopper whined.

"I want to look for more supplies," Usopp added.

"Do what you want," Nami said. "But you do realize I'm getting money only for food and myself. If you guys want to spend all your food money on books and supplies, don't come to me to feed you."

"That's okay," Chopper said with a smile. "I only want to look."

Nami sighed as she made her way over to the door with Robin. She knew that if Chopper saw some medical book he didn't have or that if Usopp saw some strange gadget, both of them would be buying whatever it was they'd seen. The two of them were so clueless when it came to spending money; she wondered what they'd do without her. She turned back to face all of them when she reached the door.

"And let me make one thing perfectly clear. You'll all owe me a hundred per cent interest on the money I give you."

Without another word or waiting for a response from any of them, she left with Robin. The rest of the crew turned to face each other.

"No surprise there," Zoro stated. "I don't know why she bothers; none of us are ever going to have the money to pay her back."

"Are you suggesting that the Great Captain Usopp doesn't have money?"

"That's right. You going to try and tell me you actually do have money?"

"Of course I do! I have several stashes of money hidden in all of Syrup Island."

"Really?" Chopper exclaimed. "Can you lend me some so I can pay Nami back?"

"The Great Captain Usopp did not get so much money by lending it out like Nami does. Besides, it's all on my home island outside the Grand Line. Even if I wanted to lend you some, I couldn't."

"He doesn't have any money, Chopper," Zoro explained. "As usual, he's lying."

"But what about all the stashes of money on Syrup Island?" Chopper questioned.

"They're secret, so of course Zoro doesn't know about them. That's why he thinks I'm lying," Usopp explained.

"So you really have the money?"

"Of course I do."

"Just go into town already. You two are going to give me a headache if you don't shut up," Zoro complained.

The two of them slipped quietly out the door, neither of them wanting to disturb the swordsman more than they already had.

"Do you want to play hide and seek again while we wait for Nami to bring money?" Luffy asked.

"Not really – besides, you're no good at playing it. You never found me last time."

"I did find you!"

"You know, when you find someone while playing hide and seek, you're supposed to say 'found you' or something like that."

"But then I would have waked you up. So I decided to just watch you sleep. If I promise to say 'found you' when I find you this time, can we play?"

Zoro couldn't believe what Luffy had said. He found it incredible that, for once, his captain had thought about someone else before acting. Luffy's instincts always seemed to be act first, think later – occasionally missing out the thinking stage altogether. His initial instinct was to dismiss it; Luffy was probably just trying to get him to play again. But the more he thought about it, the more plausible it seemed. After all, the lid from the box had been removed when he woke up, and Zoro knew he hadn't taken it off. Besides, Luffy wasn't like Usopp; he didn't know how to lie – the boy had admitted as much at Arlong Park.

"Zoro," Luffy whined, "are we going to play hide and seek or not?"

The swordsman was distracted from his thoughts. He realized he must have been just sitting there for around a minute while he'd contemplated what Luffy had told him.

"No, but before you start pouting, I'll cook you some meat instead."

"Really! I can have meat despite what Nami said?"

"Yeah. I'll give you some meat; not too much though, or Nami'll know you've had some. And you can't mention this to Nami at all or you won't get any. Got it?"

"I won't say anything to Nami as long as I get meat!"

Zoro got up from his seat at the table and went to turn on the oven. Cooking a little meat for his captain was the least he could do to thank him – even if Luffy wouldn't realize his motivations.

--------------------

Ace and Sanji had been walking through the forest for around five hours. Both of them now had armfuls of fruit, vegetables, and herbs. They probably had enough to last them for the weeks' stay on the island.

"I don't think this is leading anywhere but to more forest," Sanji said. "Maybe we should just head back to the beach."

"And do what? Sit and watch the waves?"

"Well, it's not like we're doing anything here."

"We're walking, which beats sitting around and doing nothing. But if you want to go back, I can't stop you."

"This island is the worst. At least if Nami-san were here she'd probably be sun bathing on the beach in a bikini."

"Sorry to be such a disappointment."

"And even if she wasn't she'd still be here," Sanji continued, not even noticing that Ace had just spoken.

"Are you even listening to me?"

"You say something?"

"I'll take that as a no then. The trees seem to be thinning out; we may be coming to something."

"I think you might be right. The air feels a bit muggier, too."

"Maybe this little excursion won't be a waste after all."

"We'll see."

They continued to walk through the forest. The trees grew thinner all around them till they were walking through short bushes and shrubs. And even that sparse vegetation was continuing to thin out. Soon, there was nothing but sparse grass.

"Great. We found a lack of vegetation," Sanji complained.

"The lack of vegetation doesn't explain why it's been getting muggier. There's got to be something else beside grass – grass doesn't cause this kind of humidity."

"Well, what does?"

"We'll find out once we find the source."

Steam began rising all around them, and they soon found themselves standing before a hot spring.

"Now…hot springs cause humidity," Ace announced as he stood before it.

"That, I agree with. You want to have lunch first or a soak?"

"Whatever you want. You're the one cooking after all."

"Hot springs first then. I haven't washed the blood off properly yet. Besides, I'm not that hungry. Feels sort of strange eating when I want rather then when your brother wants to," Sanji said as he pulled off his shirt.

"So, all the time, right?" Ace replied as he tried to avert his gaze from Sanji's lithe form but found himself unable to do so.

"He likes it that way," Sanji continued as he kicked off his shoes, oblivious to Ace's eyes on his back. "But I have to draw the line somewhere, or we'd never make it from one island to the next. I'm sure the marines would be pleased if the Straw Hat Crew starved to death, but as a chef, I can't let that happen."

"Too bad for the marines. I'm sure they'd love it if every pirate alive just starved to death."

Ace heard the sounds of a belt buckle and zip being undone; he knew exactly what was coming off next. Quickly he knelt down to untie the laces of his boots he had to do something to stop him from watching Sanji take off his last articles of clothing. Seeing the back of his naked chest leading down to slim hips was bad enough. He really didn't need to see anything else.

He heard the sound of water sloshing, then nothing but silence. He knew it was now safe to look up.

"You coming in or do you intend to spend the next half hour untying your shoelaces?" Sanji asked.

"It doesn't look that deep, so I guess I'll be joining you…"

"What does depth have to do with it?"

"The deeper the water is, the more dangerous it is for me. Being on my brother's crew, I thought you would have realized water and devil fruit users don't really mix."

"Of course I know that. It's just – I wouldn't let you drown, so I don't see how depth is an issue."

"Nice to know I can rely on you if I slip."

Ace pulled off his boots and set them next to a rock. Nervously, he quickly pulled off his shorts and boxers and threw them aside with less care then he had used for his boots.

He slid slowly into the water, noticing that Sanji's head was intentionally turned the other way. He was unsure whether he should feel relief or be annoyed that the cook didn't care to look at him. The tingling sensation he was familiar with in water spread up his legs to his stomach. The feeling was irritable; similar to pins and needles throughout the body so intense it made it impossible to make any movements that would result in effectively swimming.

Being partially submerged wasn't so bad. Mostly, it just resulted in Ace feeling annoyed at his inability to move the lower half of his body, especially when it came to getting out. It also annoyed him that he couldn't fully enjoy relaxing in a hot bath.

"Relaxing huh?" Sanji said as he turned his gaze back to Ace.

"Not so much for me. I'll be getting out as soon as I'm washed."

"I never realized having a devil fruit power would be that bad… I don't know what I'd do if I couldn't swim."

"Just trust me when I tell you it's very frustrating," Ace said as he began to rub water over his body.

"You're not going to want to eat any time soon, are you? I was kind of hoping to stay in here for a little while."

"Feel free to stay in as long as you like. I'm good for food for awhile."

-------------------

The door to the galley opened slowly, and Luffy bounded to the door excitedly, hoping it would be Nami with money so he could go and eat. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the expression on Nami's face; it looked like she was frustrated. He was used to seeing that expression on her face, but usually he was the cause of it. He couldn't understand how she could have that look on her face after spending the entire morning away from him.

"You get the money, Nami?"

She just nodded her head in response and set down a large bag of money on the table. Robin set a bag down next to the one Nami had placed down and went over to the coffee pot.

"Would you like a cup, Navigator-san?" Robin asked as she began to fill it with water.

"Please," Nami replied.

"So, what happened? You look tired," Zoro said as he roused himself from the corner of the galley where he had been sleeping.

"That was the strangest robbery I've ever done."

"Stranger then when you robbed Buggy and met us?"

"This was stranger. I never thought anything would be weirder then robbing Buggy, but – travel on the Grand Line long enough and anything is possible."

"I want to hear about it!" Luffy demanded.

Robin set a cup of coffee in front of Nami and sat next to the navigator. Nami took a sip of the steaming liquid and set it down again.

"We picked the quietest ship. There was only one – all the others had a couple of people walking around on deck. But this ship was empty. So we went on board and into the cabin, only to find a man with no legs sitting in a chair in the middle of a room surrounded by piles of cash."

"No legs? Not even peg ones?" Luffy asked.

"No not even peg legs; from about half way down his thighs, nothing. How anyone can sail without even peg legs is beyond me, but there he sat."

Luffy burst out laughing. "He must be a strange man."

"Didn't I say everything about it was strange? That includes him," Nami snapped. "The first thing he said to us was that we had woman's legs, and that he wagered they'd never been sliced clean off by a falling sail and swept into the sea before our eyes."

"Of course they haven't. You wouldn't be standing on your legs if they were swept into the sea."

"He just carried on like that for about five minutes. Woman's hands whose dainty pinkies never weighed anchor in a storm, woman's skin that never felt the lash of a cat, been rubbed with salt and then flayed off by a rival pirate to make stockings for his cabin boy."

"I don't have a cabin boy. Maybe I should get one."

"It got even stranger when someone from his crew came in, and he started saying he had a woman's mouth that never had to chew through the side of a ship to escape the dreadful spindly killer fish."

"Did you just say 'he'?" Zoro questioned.

"I did. It seems that he thinks anyone that's thin is womanly."

"I wonder what he'd have to say to the love cook."

"I don't even want to think about it."

"So what happened then?"

"Robin restrained the member of his crew, we took all the money he had, and ran out of there with him shouting that we had a woman's bottom that was never forced between two splintered planks to plug a leak and save a ship."

"He sounds really interesting," Luffy said. "Who is he? Me and Zoro should go see him."

"Redbeard Rum. And Luffy, let me pass on some advice about stealing. You don't pay visits to the person you stole from with your pockets lined with his money."

"But he wouldn't know we had his money. You stole from him, not me. I wonder if he'd say Zoro had a woman's bottom."

"Like hell he would!" Zoro shouted. "She just said he said crap like that to thin people. He'd be more likely to say it to you."

"Say crap like that to thin people like who?" Usopp questioned as he and Chopper walked into the galley.

"Never mind. I'm sure Nami can explain it to you later. Let's just go get some food, Luffy."

"Yosh! Food!" Luffy cheered. "Then we can go see Redbeard Rum after! We should take Usopp, too! He's really thin."

"We're not going to see him. Nami give us some money for food."

"No one's going to get anything till we've moved this ship."

"But Nami, it's past lunch time!" Luffy whined.

"And the fact that you brought that up only now means you've had some meat. Zoro, I'm adding another twenty-five percent interest on top of that hundred for this money I'm lending you now."

"Whatever. Let's just move the ship already and go eat."

-------------------

Sanji sat watching Ace sleep. The elder D brother had fallen asleep almost immediately after they had finished eating their evening meal. That had been two hours ago. It was growing steadily darker, and as the light faded, the temperature dropped. He had plenty of fuel for the fire Ace had made, but a fire alone wasn't enough – the other night had made that perfectly clear. Sanji knew he was going to need Ace's body heat soon.

There was only one problem with that; they had been in enough compromising positions for one day. Ace had only been in the hot spring for about ten minutes when he went to stand up. Watching him cling to the bank and try to pull himself out using his arms had been a strange sight. He had no idea the extent of which water affected devil fruit users; Ace struggled to simply stand upright after sitting in some water. It was no wonder Luffy hated having baths.

When he was nearly out, his foot slipped on a rock. Clearly he had jinxed himself earlier by talking of slipping. Sanji found himself having to haul him out, and Ace was heavier then Luffy. He was used to a fairly light weight to drag out the water; it was as if his body instinctively knew how much energy to use after the countless times he'd gone in after Luffy.

When the usual amount of force seemed to be having little effect, he pulled perhaps a little too hard. He went sprawling backwards, and Ace just seemed to fly out and land half on top of him. One of the older man's arms was sprawled across his stomach, a leg draped over his own, and his ass was inconveniently over his thigh. The other half of his body just sprawled over the sparse grass and dirt.

Sanji couldn't remember a time when he'd been more embarrassed. Nothing that had happened at Baratie compared to this, and he had seen some pretty bad things at Baratie that had caused him not to look people in the eyes for weeks. Not even walking in on Patty masturbating had seemed this bad. The feeling he had at the time of wanting iron boots on and being thrown in the ocean was definitely back.

The fact that Ace just lay there didn't help anything. He wasn't moving, and Sanji couldn't seem to find his tongue to tell him to move. In the end, he had wriggled his leg from under Ace's and kicked him off and dove back into the hot spring, using the sudden change in temperature as an excuse for the shade of red he felt his face turn.

Now he was going to have to lie next to Ace to keep his body temperature from dropping too much below zero. If there was a God, he certainly hated Sanji. Then again, he already knew that – he'd been fried with a huge amount of electricity from the God in Skypiea.

Clearly, deities did not like him.

He had no choice; at least Ace was asleep and wouldn't be able to watch him sit as close to him as possible while he waited for sleep to come to him. For that Sanji was thankful. He shifted closer to Ace and lay down with his back to the older man. Resting his head against his shoulder, he silently watched the flames flicker against the darkening sky.

_Ok, explanation time. As I may have mentioned already my dog has been very sick and recently he's got a lot worse. Every time I look at him I just want to cry because he's so weak now he can't even wag his tail. _

_There's a good chance that this evening he's going to get put down. It's not definite yet, but I'd say very likely. If that is the case I'm going to be incredibly depressed and as such will probably not be writing for a while. So if you don't hear anything from me for ages please bear with me. I'll get something out as soon as I can._


	6. Reflections and Realisations

_Sorry it took me so ridiculously long to get this chapter out. I know I've explained to some people, but for the rest of you it's taken me so long because getting upset over my dog caused me to fall behind with my college work so I had to put that first. Then when college finished I had a bit of trouble getting back into writing my fics and I was also trying to draw birthday cards for people which is very time consuming for me since I'm so bad drawing._

_I decided to have a Robin/Nami pairing in this. Though it wasn't as I'd origninally thought I'd use it; so it's coming in earlier then I'd first planned. So this chapter and subsequent chapters will have Robin/Nami, though it is a side pairing._

Playing With Fire

Reflections and Realisations

Zoro woke when he heard footsteps heading towards the galley. He looked out from the crow's nest where he had spent the night on watch to see Robin was taking her turn with breakfast duty. She had said she would cook the day before, but for some reason, Nami had cooked that morning and hadn't done a particularly good job of it.

He decided to stay awake and wait for Robin to call him for breakfast; it probably wouldn't take her long, considering she could have twenty pairs of hands if she wanted. Zoro watched from the crow's nest as the sun began to rise, painting the sky with hues of pinks, oranges, and reds. The swordsman couldn't remember the last time he'd seen a sunrise. He thought it would have been during his childhood; he always got up early when he was a boy to train. Even though he still needed to train, he slept through sunrises now.

When he was younger it was different. Kuina was always there in front of him, a seemingly unattainable goal he couldn't reach but couldn't stop striving to beat. He had faced Mihawk only once, but Kuina was always there, always pushing him in a way Mihawk couldn't simply because he wasn't physically challenging him every day.

He knew he would face Mihawk a second time; it was everything he dreamed of, so he couldn't just leave it. But it wasn't just because he dreamed of it that he knew it would happen. He knew Luffy would never stop sailing till all of them had achieved their dreams, even if Luffy found One Piece before any of them fulfilled their dreams.

The thought that Luffy would never give up on any of them was almost comforting. If he took comfort from anything, he would take it from that. But comfort was something he found he had learned to live without; it wasn't important to him.

The sun had risen further in the sky when Robin came out of the galley to ask him to wake the others. All he had to do was get everyone's attention without getting Luffy's till they had sat down and started to eat. It was the fair way to carry things out, but it was also a task that seemed impossible. His captain never had sharper hearing than when food was being mentioned. Zoro decided he could at least give Nami fair warning by waking her first.

In his own room Zoro tried discreetly to get Usopp and Chopper up before waking Luffy. It was no use though. At the first syllable he uttered, Luffy bolted upright in his hammock shouting 'breakfast!' before running up to the galley.

Zoro chased after him with Usopp and Chopper in tow. By the time they got there, Luffy had already made a decent start on his own plate and was eyeing the others' plates, ready for when he finished. They took their seats and began to eat rapidly to avoid losing much food.

No matter how fast they all ate, they were no match for Luffy's speed. Their captain was soon stretching his arms over to the others' plates; sometimes managing to steal a bit of bacon or sausage, sometimes getting his hand slapped away by the plate's owner.

With breakfast over, they remained gathered in the galley. Usopp was designated to wash the dishes since he could manage thatwithout destroying the kitchen.

"What should we do today, Zoro?" Luffy asked. "Can we go see Redbeard Rum?"

"I was planning on training today," Zoro replied.

He saw Luffy's lips turn into a pout in an attempt to get his own way. This time, Zoro wouldn't cave in. Training was a step towards fulfilling his dream, and nothing would make him cave in on his dream. Not even Luffy.

It didn't change the fact that part of him felt bad for denying the younger teen what he wanted. He just had his priorities, and he knew he would have time some other day to make it up to Luffy.

"Why don't you spend the morning with Usopp and Chopper? Then we can go out for lunch. You can have as much as you want and we'll eat at whatever restaurant you want," Zoro suggested, adding the last part and hoping it would please Luffy more, even though he knew his captain didn't care where he ate – just as long as he ate.

"Really? As much as I want?" Luffy questioned excitedly almost feeling it was too good to be true.

"Really."

"Yosh!" Luffy jumped from his seat, his disappointment at not getting to spend the entire day with Zoro forgotten with the promise of as much food as he wanted. He scooped Chopper into his arms and began to dance round in circles with the reindeer. As abruptly as the dancing had begun, it ended, and Luffy placed Chopper on the floor, causing the doctor to falter in the first few steps he took.

"So let's go," Luffy declared. "The sooner we go, the sooner I can go get lunch with Zoro."

He grabbed Usopp's wrist, causing the sniper to drop the plate he was drying, and dragged him from the galley with Chopper following behind. Usopp didn't have a chance to protest about the manner of his removal.

"You should try to spend more time with Captain-san," Robin said as she took a towel to finish drying the dishes.

"I spend plenty of time with him!" Zoro protested. "What do you mean I should spend more time with him?"

Instead of answering him, Robin just turned to him and smiled that damn enigmatic smile of hers that gave nothing away. He waited, hoping she might explain herself. But after a few moments she turned back to the dishes. Annoyed, Zoro stalked out the galley to get his weights.

The day Robin gave him a straight answer was the day he would have a heart attack.

--------------------

By the position of the sun, Ace reckoned it was nearly lunchtime. He had slept through half the day and was alone. He knew Sanji had slept with him the other night, because at some point during his sleep, he had felt another presence next to him. It didn't take a genius to realise that Sanji had been after some heat to keep himself warm. But sometime in the morning, Sanji had left.

Ace was feeling lonely without Sanji around to keep him company. He was amazed at how quickly he'd gotten so used to the cook's company that without it he felt lonely. He was used to being alone, but also used to company. It was conflicting, but he had grown used to enjoying company whenever he was aboard Whitebeard's ship and going without companionship when there was nobody around him.

Recently, what with tracking Blackbeard, he'd been more used to being alone. Now he had Sanji with him, and he was growing used to company again. He found himself wanting company. Ace was tired of being alone, but he'd never abandon his mission. What he needed was someone willing to join him, someone not willing to rest till Blackbeard answered for what he'd done.

He found himself wishing it would be Sanji.

A thought fleetingly crossed his mind to recruit Sanji to Whitebeard's crew. It passed almost as soon as it entered his mind. It would be wrong of him to steal his brother's cook to satisfy his own needs. Something told him that even if he did ask Sanji, the cook would turn down his offer. He knew Sanji had his own dream, and on a crew as small as Luffy's, everyone could pursue their own dream.

On Whitebeard's crew, there really wasn't room for individual dreams; the objective of each individual was to follow orders and make the Whitebeard pirates the most infamous throughout the Grand Line. In a way, that was the dream of the Whitebeard pirates – a collective dream. He didn't want to bring Sanji into that and watch his dream of finding All Blue get trampled by what the Whitebeard pirates wanted to achieve.

At this moment in time, he doubted Sanji would want to spend any more time with him then was necessary. After the incident the other day, Sanji had been distant. He didn't blame the cook; it had been an awkward and embarrassing situation, although, for himself, not entirely unenjoyable. He had hoped that Sanji would have gotten over it during the night so that they could talk to each other and Ace could apologise for the whole thing. He had wanted to the other day, but there was something about Sanji's demeanour that screamed 'don't mention that incident'.

He rose from his seated position in the sand and began to wander toward the direction of the forest. If he wanted to apologise, he was going to have to hunt the cook down. He could have waited for Sanji to return – the cook was bound to at some point – but he didn't want to. He wanted to find him and make him listen to what he had to say, even if Sanji wasn't ready to listen to rambling apologies, even if Sanji was likely to turn round and bite his head off as he so often did with Zoro.

Without realising it, Ace found himself walking in the direction of the hot springs. It seemed to be the last place he would find Sanji, and yet he didn't turn around and head in a different direction. Ace wasn't sure if it was because this was the only place on the island he'd been to with Sanji, or because this was where he hoped to find the cook. Either way, his feet kept moving in that direction.

Ace was surprised to find the blond sitting in the hot spring. At first he thought he was seeing things in the steam, but as he got closer, and the cook turned to face him upon hearing his footsteps, Ace realised that Sanji was no hallucination. He sat on one of the rocks opposite the water with his back facing Sanji so the cook wouldn't feel uncomfortable.

"You sleep well last night?" Ace asked, wanting to find out what sort of mood Sanji was in before he went ahead and apologised.

"Fine, thanks," Sanji replied.

Ace breathed a sigh of relief. Whatever had been making the cook so annoyed yesterday seemed to have passed. Now he at least felt comfortable about bringing up what had happened.

"About yesterday," Ace began, "I'm sorry. Sometimes I just struggle, and I didn't mean to fall on you, I couldn't help it."

The apology was fumbled and almost as awkward as falling on Sanji had turned out to be, but at least he'd said it.

"There's no need for you to apologise," Sanji said. "It was an accident after all."

"So let's forget it, princess."

"Princess, like Sunshine, is off limits," Sanji growled.

"Sorry," Ace said as he turned to face Sanji with a large grin on his face.

"Keep it up, and you'll be making me apologise for beating the crap out of you."

Ace laughed. "You couldn't beat…" he began but was abruptly cut off by a loud rumble from his stomach.

"I guess you're hungry."

"Yeah, but whenever you're ready is fine. Don't feel like you have to rush your bath cos of me."

"I wasn't really doing much. Besides, as a cook, it's my duty to feed people that are hungry."

"So what do you do about Luffy? He's always hungry."

"I padlock the fridge."

--------------------

Luffy bounded ahead of Usopp and Chopper in his rush to get back to the GoingMerry. Zoro had promised to have lunch with him, but that was only half the reason he was excited. Zoro had promised to let him eat as much as he wanted. Usually the swordsman would make an attempt to get him to stop eating, even if it never worked. This time he wouldn't, and he would be able to enjoy as much food as he wanted.

When the Going Merry came into view, he stretched his arms over to the ship and catapulted himself over with a cry of "Gomu gomu no rocket!" and crashed against Zoro, sending them both flying to the opposite side of the deck.

"Zoro, let's go eat!"

"Stop doing that," Zoro chastised as he lightly thumped Luffy's head causing the boy to break into laughter. "Let's just go get lunch."

"Yosh!" Luffy cheered as he jumped from his position between Zoro's legs.

They wandered round town for about half an hour, blaming each other for being lost and Luffy complaining about being hungry. Finally, they came to a restaurant, and Luffy dived for the door. He grabbed one of the free seats at the counter and promptly placed an order for everything without even a glance at the menu.

"What are you gonna have?" Luffy asked Zoro as the swordsman joined him. "It all looks really good."

"You haven't even looked at the menu," Zoro replied as he read through the menu before him.

"Don't need to; I can see it on everyone else's plate."

Luffy waited for Zoro to respond, but the green haired teen remained silent with his eyes on the menu. Luffy stared at Zoro, hoping that his staring would get his first mate to say something, but Zoro still said nothing.

Luffy wondered if he'd done something wrong. Maybe he shouldn't have launched himself at Zoro earlier and that was why Zoro was being quiet. He wasn't quite sure what he'd done; he just knew he didn't like it. He didn't like it when Zoro didn't talk to him because he really liked Zoro.

He really liked everyone on his crew, but it never bothered him like this if one of them should choose to not speak to him on some principle, like the time Sanji hadn't talked to him for hours because he's eaten the apple pie Sanji had baked specially for Nami and Robin. Normally Luffy would laugh off something like that, but for some reason he couldn't laugh it off when it came to Zoro.

He couldn't fathom why, though. He liked all his crew because they were the best at what they did; they were all brave and strong, even if some of them needed to be pushed into the fight, and they were all fun and the best nakama anyone could ask for. So why was Zoro more special than the others?

Maybe it was because Zoro wasn't the best swordsman like he'd reminded Luffy the other day. When he said everyone else was the best, it was because he'd never seen anyone who could draw a better map than Nami, or cook a better meal than Sanji, or tell a better lie than Usopp. He'd seen Mihawk fight Zoro and he knew that at that time, Zoro was a long way from the best. It was perhaps because he'd seen Zoro lose and had seen Zoro push himself harder to become the best till he reached the level he was at now, a level Luffy thought would enable him to beat Mihawk. Maybe that was the reason Zoro was a bit more special then anyone else on his crew.

Luffy nodded to himself, happy with his reasoning.

"You ok, Luffy?" Zoro asked after ordering some meals.

"Huh?" Luffy uttered as he stopped staring into space and let his eyes focus on Zoro.

"You looked a little out of it. I know you're hungry, but I didn't realise you were that hungry."

"I was just thinking."

"About?"

"Nothing in particular."

Before Zoro had a chance to question Luffy further, the first of his meals were set before him and the younger teen began to eat as only he knew how.

Two bottles of whisky and thirty-five meals later, they were back on the ship. Zoro was leaning against the mast, taking an afternoon nap before he did some more training. Luffy was sat in the kitchen watching Robin as she made a pot of coffee.

He was still feeling unsure about his reasoning for liking Zoro so much. It seemed to make sense to him, but he wasn't sure. Luffy thought that Robin would probably know; she seemed to know about everything he'd ever asked her, so he didn't see how this would be any different.

"Robin, why do I like Zoro as much as I do?"

Robin's face took on a shocked expression for a brief moment. If anyone blinked or wasn't watching her properly, they would have missed it, just like Luffy had. While she knew the captain and first mate liked each other, she hadn't expected Luffy to ask her about it. With her smile on her face, she sat opposite Luffy and took a sip from the cup of coffee she'd just poured.

"Why do you think you like him as much as you do?"

Luffy explained the theory he'd come up with during his lunch while Robin nodded at what he said.

"That could be it," Robin said, "but it could be that you like him in a different way than the rest of us."

Luffy cocked his head to one side and stared at Robin, puzzled. "Different how?"

"Like how I like Nami different."

"How you like Nami different?" Luffy repeated as he thought about the differences in the way Robin treated everyone else and the way she treated Nami.

Robin touched Nami more, held her hand or had an arm round her shoulder, and Robin kissed Nami occasionally.

"So you think I want to kiss Zoro?"

"At a very simple level, yes. But I think there's more to it than that."

"I think I understand… Thanks Robin!" Luffy said as he bounded out the galley.

He crouched in front of Zoro and watched him sleep, his head cocked to the side as he contemplated what Robin said. Maybe she was right.

--------------------

Sanji had thought all morning about how he'd behaved with Ace the other day. The whole thing had been embarrassing, but he still should have been able to look Ace in the eye and hold a conversation with him – something he'd found himself lacking the ability to do till Ace had found him at the hot spring and apologised. Ace's apology had made him realise it was just nothing; nothing Ace should have to say he was sorry for, at least.

But that didn't mean it was nothing. There must have been something to it to make him act the way he had. He had spent the entire morning soaking in the springs, trying to think of what it was, and had come up with nothing.

When Ace had arrived, whatever train of thought he'd been following had disappeared. And it hadn't reappeared all day, leading him to believe that whatever it had been wouldn't have been likely to provide him with any answers. It perhaps hadn't reappeared because he'd been busy attempting to find something he could cook for meat. The fact that Ace had found a bear the other day indicated to him that they had to be other forms of meat since bears were carnivorous. He had come up empty handed again and come to the conclusion that all the animals on this island really liked to hide.

Ace was now off hunting again since he seemed to have more luck at it, while Sanji prepared the vegetables, ready for Ace's return. He had been gone a long time, though, which led Sanji to believe he'd fallen asleep somewhere, or maybe he was really determined not to come back empty handed. Whichever it was, it meant it would be a long time before they ate any dinner.

It did give him another chance to think about why he had been annoyed since his earlier musings, whatever they had been, had come to nothing.

His thoughts wandered back to his time on the Baratie, to a particular aspect of his time that he hadn't thought about in a long time. Since he'd joined Luffy's crew, it hadn't been necessary to sleep with men as he had on the Baratie. There was Nami at first, and although she had never shown much interest in him, he'd never given up hope. Even now, when it was apparent that she and Robin were in love, he hadn't resorted to his old ways. They had an image of him as a man very much in love with ladies that he didn't know what they'd think if he propositioned one of his male crewmates.

On the Baratie, it had been different. Any women that were there were there only for a meal, most likely with a loved one, and then they would leave. He had needs that his hands couldn't fulfill, and sometimes it was nice to be with another person, whether they were of the same gender or not.

So he had taken to sleeping with the waiters that had arrived looking for work. It was a good arrangement for him since the waiters never lasted and he'd never have to see them again. They were also less rough round the edges, making them seem more feminine than any of the cooks he worked with. It had never been out of attraction; purely a physical need he had, and perhaps that was the problem he was now facing.

His needs hadn't gone away just because he had women near him all the time. If anything, they were worse now, and he had no release this time. Feeling Ace's naked body against his, even through an innocent accident, seemed to have reawakened his desire to be with another person even if they weren't his first choice of lover.

Ace was calling him, snapping him from his realisation. It appeared he had more luck in hunting and had come back with several small rabbits charred almost to perfection.

Sanji took the rabbits and set about preparing the rest of the meal. He was content now that he had figured out the source of his problem, and determined against all costs to not give in to his body's desires. If he slept with Ace now, it could get back to the others, and he didn't want that to happen.

--------------------

A hand flowered on the desk where Nami sat working on one of her maps. She had been so absorbed in her work that she hadn't heard when Robin entered their room. But the hand managed to get her attention as it carefully pushed aside some of the lose sheets of paper. Robin walked over to the desk and placed a steaming mug of coffee in the spot she'd just cleared before taking a seat on their bed and sipping at her own drink.

"Thanks Robin," Nami said with a smile.

When she was working on her maps, Nami could become so absorbed that she didn't notice the little things that were going on around her. Naturally, she noticed if Zoro and Sanji started yet another fight right outside her door, or if Usopp managed to blow up another of his experiments, but things like whether she was thirsty or tired or hungry seemed to escape her notice.

As her focus left the map she was working on, she realised she was both thirsty and a little tired. The mug of coffee Robin had provided was the answer to both. Robin always noticed the things she missed when she was absorbed in her work. She took a sip of the hot liquid and turned on her chair to face Robin.

She smiled as she looked into Robin's eyes, the eyes that seemed to keep so many secrets but Nami thought she could read well. She could at least read what she deemed important, like the love she saw whenever they looked at each other. Robin had secrets, Robin probably would always have secrets but that didn't matter as long as they loved and trusted each other.

Nami looked back down at the map she was working on. As long as they could remain together and fulfil their dreams together she knew she'd be happy. She turned her gaze back to Robin as she took another drink of coffee.

"You really don't miss anything, do you?" Nami stated as Robin smiled. "Though I think you're going about handling Zoro the wrong way, you should have noticed that. Subtlety and Zoro don't mix too well."

"He's smarter than you think."

"When it comes to romance, he's completely clueless," Nami said with exasperation evident in her tone. The way her captain and Zoro had been seemingly close to forming a relationship for the past month and never getting anywhere was beginning to really annoy her.

"Then I'd say it was a good idea I explained it to Luffy in terms he'd understand."

"Things are about to get a lot more interesting around here," Nami said as a wide smile that hinted at mischief graced her face.

_For some reason unbeknownst to me I've been thinking about Zoro's dream recently. So that explains a lot for this chapter I think. Anyway, as always please leave me a review to let me know what you think since I'm not sure how well I got back into my writing._


	7. The Perfect Mood

_Once again I apologise for the ridiculously long wait for this chapter. I've been so busy with my uni work that I've barely been able to keep up with reading fics, yet alone writing my own. _

_Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece_

Playing With Fire

The Perfect Mood

Sanji had been unusually quiet during breakfast. After his apology the other day, Ace had thought things between them would be able to go back to normal. That was what he'd _hoped_ would happen. But it seemed that more than an apology would be needed to smooth things over with Sanji.

Things had improved between them slightly. At least Sanji was now talking to him, but there was still something about Sanji that was bothering him. The cook didn't seem quite himself and Ace couldn't help but think that he'd accidentally been the cause of the change. Sanji was talking to him, but mostly when he'd either been asked something or wanted to ask Ace to do something like try hunting or light the fire. It was better then nothing, but Ace would be lying to himself if he said he was happy with the situation.

There was only one thing he could do to try and fix what had happened, and it wasn't going to be easy: try and get Sanji to talk about whatever his problem was. Ace just knew that was going to be no easy task.

He had only one theory about what could possibly be wrong with Sanji. It was something he recognised from himself—something that wasn't entirely easy to admit to. If he was right and could get Sanji to realise it, he'd be changing Sanji's life and hopefully making his own more bearable for the next few days—perhaps _very_ bearable.

He looked up from the pattern he was drawing in the sand with his index finger to look at Sanji. The blond was fingering an orange as if debating whether to eat it. As he picked it up and began to peel it, Ace decided he might as well get it over with. After all there was only a limited amount of time within which to try and set things right.

"You okay?" Ace asked.

It seemed as if Sanji was turning to look at him in slow motion. Their eyes met, but it seemed to Ace as if Sanji were looking right through him rather than at him.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Sanji replied.

"You've just been a bit quiet recently."

"I'm just worried about what might happen to the others."

Ace knew immediately that was a lie. If Sanji had told him he was missing Nami and Robin, he might have believed it. But there wasn't really any reason to be worried about them. While Luffy was reckless, he also had the strength to see himself and his crew through whatever dangerous situation he might get them into. So while it was perfectly plausible that Luffy could get them into some trouble he would get them out of it. It just seemed unlikely to be the reason, especially considering he had been fine before.

"You sure that's all? You seemed fine before…" Ace began.

"Before what?" Sanji cut in.

"Before I fell on you the other day."

"What's _that_ got to do with anything?"

"I just assumed that since you've been quiet since then, that was when something went wrong."

"That was nothing."

"Really?"

"Yes really. What the hell would that have to do with anything?"

"I just figured that since you started acting differently after that, it had something to do with it."

"That was a stupid conclusion to come to."

"What other conclusion was I supposed to come to?"

"Who said you were supposed to come to any conclusions?"

"I was just trying to figure out what's wrong to make the next few days bearable."

"This is bearable for me."

"It isn't for me. And maybe I thought something was wrong and wanted to see if I could help somehow."

"You can't help if there's nothing wrong. Even if there was, why would you need to do anything?"

Ace was beginning to feel exasperated. Sanji was being ridiculously defensive and he couldn't see any reason for it. He realised his subtle approach was getting him nowhere. Which left the direct approach.

Considering how badly the subtle approach was going he was left with the feeling that the direct approach would end with him being kicked into the ocean as Sanji had previously threatened. But it was the only option left to him if he wanted to figure out what was bothering Sanji.

"Do you like men?"

Sanji just looked at him, didn't say anything. Ace couldn't figure out whether it was because Sanji couldn't say anything from shock, or he didn't see the point in dignifying Ace with a response. Sanji just looked at him, a mix of anger and confusion on his face, before walking away from him.

---------------------

What Robin had told him the other day had really made Luffy think. Since then, he had been watching Zoro as he went about his daily routines. He'd watched him sleep last night, eat breakfast that morning, and was now watching him train. All the time thinking about Robin had said.

More importantly, how did you go about kissing someone?

One thing was becoming clear to him. If he was going to kiss Zoro, he would need some advice. Ordinarily, he would have gone to Sanji, but with him not there, who better to ask then Usopp? After all, Usopp had so many stories—he was _bound_ to have some about kissing people.

Eager to find Usopp, Luffy leapt from his seat on the lamb's head and ran below deck. In his cabin, he found both Usopp and Chopper. The doctor stood on a crate grinding something using his pestle and mortar, while the sniper sat on the floor pouring liquids from different test tubes into a larger one.

"What are you doing?" Luffy asked from directly behind Usopp, startling the sniper and causing him to pour too much liquid into the large test tube which resulted in a small explosion.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Usopp shouted.

Luffy laughed, his white teeth standing out against his now black soot-stained face. Chopper looked only a little startled as he regarded his two crewmates from over his shoulder. When he had first joined the crew, the explosion would have made him run and hide in the storeroom, but now he was used to it. He continued to work on making Rambo balls.

"I just wanted to know what you were doing," Luffy explained still grinning in the aftermath of the explosion.

"But why did you have to creep up on me and startle me like that? Even the Great Captain Usopp's hands slip when he's surprised."

"Are you finished now?"

"I guess I am now," Usopp said with a sigh as he set aside the chemicals he'd been using. "Did you want anything?"

"Yeah, I wanted to ask you—how do you kiss someone? Do you just kiss them or do you have to warn them first or anything like that?"

"You've come to the right person! Usopp the Great Casanova can tell you all that you need to know about kissing someone."

"Tell me everything you know."

"The most important thing when kissing someone is to create the perfect mood. I've seen many men get a good slap across the face all because they didn't take the time to create the perfect mood."

"So, how do I create this perfect mood?"

"There are three things that are very important for making the perfect mood and they are flowers, chocolates, and candles."

"Why do I need all of them?"

"Well, women like to receive gifts before you kiss them. They like things that are pretty and things that taste good. That's why you need to give them flowers and chocolate."

"But what about the candles? What do the candles do?" Luffy had noticed that Usopp had said women but assumed it applied to men as well, so he was eager to learn everything he could from the sniper.

"Candles make the setting perfect. With lots of candles to light the room, women will swoon."

"So I have to give the person flowers and chocolates and light a room with candles. Right, I got it. So if I do all that, they'll kiss me."

"Exactly! No man has ever failed to be kissed after following Usopp the Great Casanova's advice. Even when the woman had slapped them before and told him they'd never kiss him in a million years. If you follow my advice, you're sure to succeed.

"There was one time when I, Usopp the Great Casanova, managed to woo a woman so successfully that to this day she will not dream of kissing another. She writes to me occasionally to say how others have tried to imitate me to make her fall in love with them. But I had wooed her so well she would have nothing to do with any of them.

"She was such an exceptional beauty that I had decided I would have to do something extra special in order to get a kiss from her. I bought her a dozen white roses; normally you should give red roses to a girl, but I had found out that this girl liked white roses much more than red ones. I bought her a box of the finest chocolate truffles, her favourite kind. I filled the room with a dozen rose-scented candles because I'd bought her a dozen roses.

"The final thing I did was to scatter the petals of another dozen white roses all round the room. It was this that was the key. Doing that which was extra special, going _that_ little bit further than anyone had done before, proved to her that I was better than all the others before me, and so she kissed me when she had never kissed another man."

"Just because you scattered some rose petals first?" Chopper asked. "That's amazing!"

"Isn't it? There's no woman that can resist the charms of Usopp the Great Casanova when he gives it everything."

"So if I scatter rose petals I'll be more likely to get a kiss?" Luffy questioned.

"I _guarantee_ you'll be kissed."

"Great! Thanks Usopp!" Luffy bounded across the floor and up the ladder. He needed to go into town now and buy all the supplies Usopp had said he would need. If he could create the perfect mood by doing everything Usopp had said, then Zoro was bound to let him kiss him. After all, Usopp had guaranteed it.

"Wait, Luffy!" Usopp called to the rapidly retreating form of his captain. "Who are you trying to kiss?"

But it was too late. Luffy was up the ladder and his footsteps pounding above him before Usopp could even finish asking his question. Whoever he wanted to kiss Usopp could only assume they were very special for Luffy to be asking advice.

-------------------

Sanji was sitting on a rock deep in the forest. After walking away from Ace, his first instinct had been to head towards the hot springs as it was the only place he knew how to reach on the island. As he had gotten nearer, he'd decided against it; the last thing he wanted right now was to have Ace come looking for him to make another apology. So he had turned away and gone deeper into the forest.

He couldn't believe Ace had questioned his sexuality. Didn't his demeanour make it blatantly clear that he was interested in _women_ and women _only_? Was it possible that Ace hadn't really noticed his attitude towards women?

Sanji shook his head as he abandoned that thought. Even though they had never spent that much time together, it should be obvious to anyone after five minutes around him that Sanji definitely liked women.

He didn't know what to think anymore. It amazed him that with only a few simple words Ace had managed to make him question himself as he was doing now. Sanji wasn't even sure if he'd be able to confirm that the sky was, in actual fact, blue. All because of one simple question.

'_Do you like men?'_

Sanji never would have thought that four words could make him question himself so much. Yet here he was, sitting on a rock in the middle of a forest, staring at his hands, and doing exactly that—questioning himself.

There was no doubt in his own mind about his feelings towards women. Perhaps Ace had mistaken his zeal for women as a cover for him actually liking men. Whatever Ace's thoughts had been when he'd asked that question…it didn't matter. What mattered was that the question had made Sanji think.

Did he like men?

His past on Baratie was enough to make him wonder. At the time he had told himself it was an 'any port in a storm' situation but Sanji couldn't help wondering if that was really true. After all, he couldn't deny that he had enjoyed himself.

The question now was did he really like men? He had never felt a pure physical attraction to any of the waiters on Baratie, but that didn't necessarily mean that he didn't like men.

What _did_ mean something to him was his reaction to Ace falling on him. It may have been somewhat embarrassing, but it shouldn't have resulted in this situation. Considering what his reaction was, it was no wonder Ace had come to the conclusion he might like men. It had come across as being somewhat suspicious.

He rose swiftly from his seat and kicked the rock he had just been sitting on. He felt somewhat satisfied to see it break into countless pieces.

If only getting rid of his problem could be as simple as that.

He sat back down again and sighed. Getting rid of this problem would never be that simple. The only way he could think of to get rid of this problem left him feeling nervous.

Considering at the moment the only other male present was Ace, Sanji felt more nervous. Did he really want to find out that he liked men with Luffy's brother? Though, considering all this had started because Ace fell on him, was it possible that he did like Ace?

His stomach rumbled, reminding him that it was time for lunch. At least preparing food would give him something to do to distract him from his thoughts, even if he did have to go back to Ace.

He picked himself up and began to head back through the forest. When he reached the edge and saw Ace sitting on the beach exactly where he had left him, Sanji couldn't help cursing his luck that the narcoleptic hadn't fallen asleep. It would have been much easier for him to make lunch if he didn't have to worry about Ace looking at him and wondering what Ace might be thinking about him at that moment.

He took a deep breath and strolled out onto the beach, ready to throw himself into his work.

-------------------

Luffy had been acting strange recently. Zoro couldn't but notice that his captain had been following him around almost constantly. That in itself didn't bother him; he quite enjoyed it, even if he had ended up having to carry an inebriated Luffy back to the ship.

It almost felt like the start of their adventure, the few days when it was just the two of them. He wasn't sure if he wanted to admit it to himself, but he was almost enjoying himself.

There was something that was bothering him about Luffy's behaviour though. He had noticed that his captain had been watching him when he thought no one would notice.

He had noticed though.

He had felt Luffy watching him the other day as he took one of his many naps, the other night as he slept, and that morning as he trained; he had noticed. It bothered him because it wasn't normal. So he had pretended not to notice. It was the easiest way to avoid what was happening. After all, he had no idea what it meant that Luffy kept staring at him, let alone how to deal with it.

Though Robin probably knew. She had, after all, suggested he spend more time with Luffy. Was that because she had also noticed the way Luffy was acting? The easiest thing to do would probably be to ask her advice on the matter.

Asking advice however, was something he didn't do.

That left him with one option. To follow the advice he'd already been given. With his training finished for the day, there was no reason for him not to spend some time with his captain. Besides, it probably wouldn't be long before Luffy came looking for him to ask if they could have lunch at a restaurant since Nami was rationing the meat.

He realised that Luffy was actually late for his daily lunchtime pestering. Normally the younger teen would be whining at him from mid-morning, yet today he had managed to make it to about noon without showing any signs of himself.

He supposed he should go find Luffy for a change and climbed down the ladder to their cabin. Chopper was the only one in the room. The reindeer was standing on a crate next to the desk, grinding away at something with a pestle and mortar.

"You seen Luffy?" Zoro asked, startling the doctor somewhat. It still amused him that after all the time he'd spent as a member of the Straw Hats crew, Chopper would occasionally jump at the slightest thing.

"He went into town about half an hour ago I think."

Zoro decided Luffy must have gone to lunch with Usopp. That didn't explain why Chopper was still on the ship though. The doctor loved Ussop's stories, and Zoro was quite sure Usopp would be telling plenty of them over lunch.

"If Luffy's gone to lunch with Usopp, then why are you still here?"

"He didn't go to lunch with Usopp. He just ran out of here after hearing one of Usopp's stories. I think he went to town to buy things to make the perfect mood."

Zoro was about to ask exactly what story Usopp had told them and what this 'perfect mood' was. But he thought better of it. If it was one of Usopp's stories he was better off not knowing.

-------------------

Nami walked out of the storeroom after finding it empty. Zoro had sent her to look for their captain to tell him dinner was ready but she couldn't find him anywhere. It was unusual for him not to be in the kitchen salivating over the food as it was being prepared, and it was even more unusual that his cries of complaint about being hungry couldn't be heard anywhere on the ship.

Chopper and Usopp had both said that they were sure Luffy had gone into town mid-morning but no one had seen him since then. There was only one place left that she could think of to look—the crow's nest. If he wasn't there, then Nami would just have to send out a search party to find him.

She began to climb up the mast, swearing to herself that if he was up there, she was going to kill him for making her climb up there herself. If he wasn't there, she'd just have to kill him later for making her climb up there for no reason.

When she reached the top, she looked into the crow's nest to find Luffy crouched down, surrounded by broken candles, a bunch of flowers that were mostly just stalks, and an empty box of chocolates. Her urge to kill him was replaced with curiosity.

Just what exactly was Luffy doing with all these things?

"There you are," Nami stated merely to get his attention. Luffy turned to look at her with an expression on his face she was sure she'd never seen there before. It almost looked to her like he was sad. "What's wrong? And what the hell's all this stuff?"

"Usopp said I needed all these things to make the perfect mood so I could kiss Zoro."

Her assessment the other night had been right. Things certainly were getting more interesting.

"But when I was coming back here I ate the chocolate cos I was hungry, then someone started a fight and the candles got broken and all the flowers lost their heads. So now I've got nothing nice to eat to give Zoro, no present for him, and nothing I can make the setting perfect with," Luffy explained dejectedly.

"I wouldn't worry about it."

"Really?" Luffy questioned his brightening after hearing her words.

"Really. Something tells me Zoro's not the kind of guy who's into chocolates, flowers, or candles."

"But then how am I supposed to kiss him?"

"Don't worry about it, you'll just know when it's right."

Luffy looked at her, a little perplexed, and she turned to leave. As she was about to climb down, she remembered that she had been sent to inform Luffy that dinner was ready.

"Zoro says dinner's ready."

"Yahoo! Dinner!" Luffy leapt from the crow's nest, catching Nami in his arms as he jumped down to the deck. As they landed with all the grace of a two-legged cat, Nami once again felt the urge to kill her captain rise within her.

-------------------

Ace was amazed; for once, Sanji was asleep before him. It gave him the opportunity to enjoy having the cook lie peacefully in his arms. At first Sanji had seemed determined to sleep on his own this night, but the cold had forced him to go to Ace.

His body had been tense at first but now that he was sound asleep, he had relaxed in Ace's arms.

"Another day down," Ace muttered quietly so he wouldn't wake Sanji.

He was sure there was something bothering the cook, and now he only had four more days left to figure it out. But there was nothing Ace enjoyed more than a challenge.

Though for now, he was more than content to merely lie with Sanji in his embrace.

_Since I've got exams coming up it's going to be awhile before I probably work on another chapter for this or Shizunkana Hibi no Kaidan wo. My intentions are to work on both of them over summer, but I won't be able to upload anything till I come back to uni in September since I'm staying at my mum's and hate using her computer for reading/uploading fics cos everyone looks over my shoulder. I really hate that._

_So hopefully come September I'll have a few different chapters ready to upload. As always though I make no promises since I'm going to have a busy summer._


	8. Taking a Chance

_I'm surprised I managed to stick to my September deadline considering over summer I started two new fics. But here's the next chapter as promised._

Playing with Fire

Taking a Chance

Luffy still wasn't sure he understood what Nami had explained to him the other night about kissing. He didn't understand how he was supposed to know when it was the right time to kiss someone and if he didn't understand that then he wouldn't know when it was the right time.

The best thing he could do be to ask Robin for more advice. He was sure he'd decided that last night but couldn't remember for sure. Once Nami had told him dinner was ready any thoughts he'd had had been replaced by ones of food.

He came to the conclusion that he probably had decided to ask her advice last night. But that didn't really matter now since he'd come to that conclusion again.

He jumped off the ram's head where he'd been sat and set about trying to find Robin.

It didn't take him too long to find her. She was in the kitchen with a book and mug of coffee in front of her. Luffy sat down opposite her and fixed her with a stare. It didn't take long for Robin to lower her book and set her eyes on her captain.

"Is there something wrong captain-san?"

"Nami told me last night that when it's the right time kiss someone you just know. But I don't understand. How do you just know?"

Luffy looked at Robin while she was silent. For a moment he thought that for once Robin wasn't going to be able to help him.

"This is something that's difficult to explain. But it is just something you'll know when you're looking at swordsman-san."

"How did you know it was the right time to kiss Nami?"

"It's something that's different for everyone, so I can't explain how I knew because it won't be how you'll know. Perhaps the best thing to do for now would be to spend more time with swordsman-san to try and figure it out."

"You mean like practice?" Luffy questioned with a puzzled look on his face.

"Something like that," Robin replied with a smile.

"So if I practice I'll be able to figure it out and then I can kiss him."

"Well you'll never know when it's the right time to kiss him if you're not around him."

"I think I understand. At least a little bit more."

"I suppose all I can really say is that something inside you will just feel right when you know it's the right time."

"Ok, something will feel right. I think I get that."

"Just don't try and force it. It'll just happen."

Luffy nodded as he jumped up and ran out of the kitchen in search of Zoro.

-------------------

Sanji was annoyed that he was still questioning his sexuality. He was still trying to figure out if he wanted to know if he liked men and if he did the important question was did he want to find out with Ace? He still wasn't sure what he wanted.

Perhaps the attraction of being attracted to a man was that it was different from being attracted to a woman. It was perhaps because all the men he'd been with in the past had been so slender that if he tried hard enough he could imagine they were women. Maybe the attraction of being attracted to a man was that it was nothing like being attracted to a woman.

There was certainly no way he could ever imagine Ace as a woman. Unless of course it was a woman seriously into bodybuilding like Miss Monday. That thought just disturbed him.

None of these thoughts really matter anyway since in the end he wasn't sure what he wanted to do. Even if he did he didn't know what Ace wanted to do. Admittedly that was probably his fault for having spent the past couple of days sulking over an accident. It didn't change the fact that he knew next to nothing about the elder D. brother.

This would probably be the best place to start, getting to know him a little better. Trying to figure out if Ace was at all interested in him. After all if Ace didn't like him what would be the point in wondering about whether or not he did or didn't want to kiss him?

If it became quite clear that Ace wasn't interested in him then everything would be easily resolved. At least for the time being.

Ace was just beginning to stir from another bout of narcolepsy. There was no time like the present to put his plan into action. He put a smile on his face and turned to regard Ace with a relatively cheerful good morning, regardless of whether it was still morning or not. He couldn't help but smile more when he saw the confused look spreading over Ace's face.

"Are you hungry?"

"What…um…no," Ace replied with a shake of his head to confirm his negative reply.

It seemed quite clear to Sanji that his sudden change in personality was confusing Ace. This could work out well for him; if he was confused Ace might give something away without realising it. The only problem now was how did you go about subtly trying to find out if someone liked you. He had to fill the growing silence with something…anything.

"So how d'ya like being a Whitebeard pirate?"

It was the stupidest question he could have asked. Thankfully from the grin spreading across Ace's face the other didn't seem to mind.

"There's nothing like it. It's just like a family, a really huge family with Whitebeard as everyone's dad."

"So if he's the dad what does that make you?"

"To him I'm just like everyone else only more powerful than most so I got to be a division commander. I guess you could say division commanders are kind of like the eldest sons cos we've got to look out for everyone beneath us like an older brother would.

"That's why I've got to find Blackbeard and kill him. He betrayed the family."

"Sounds like a strict family."

"You've got to be strict with families. Can you imagine Luffy without some boundaries? You're like his family now so you've got to be strict with him."

"I see your point. I just can't see anything like that happening with us."

"The bigger your family gets the more likely you are to get someone like Blackbeard in it; someone only interested in power. Don't get me wrong, the rest of the crew's great. I can't imagine any of them doing anything like Blackbeard did."

"How can you know the rest of the crew well enough to know that?"

"An older brother's got to know his little brothers, right? It's something you probably wouldn't understand unless you were in the crew. It's something you could consider, a cook like you could be head of the kitchens in under a week."

Ace's face seemed to turn a little paler. He was quick to get up and announce he was going to go hunting. There was no cheerful goodbye, just a hasty escape. Did this mean something?

-------------------

Although he had decided to take Robin's advice Zoro had a feeling it wasn't going to be that easy. After all he was usually sleeping or training. When he wasn't Luffy would probably have got bored and decided to go play games with Usopp and Chopper.

At the moment they had managed to get some time together. The only time they ever seemed to get together was when they went to a restaurant or pub for something to eat.

Now as they waited for the hundred odd meals that they've ordered to arrive Zoro couldn't help but notice that Luffy was once again staring at him. If spending more time with Luffy was supposed to be the solution to all this then Zoro wasn't sure it was working. He wasn't sure if it was ever going to work.

Though when he thought about it Robin had never said spending time with the captain would solve his inexplicable stares. He had just assumed that because that was his problem concerning Luffy at the moment. Normally when someone gives advice it's to fix your problems so he'd just jumped to that conclusion.

If Robin hadn't given him the advice to help with Luffy's staring he'd be damned if he knew why she'd given it to him. The only way he'd ever be able to find that out would be to follow through with her advice and see what came of it.

It was just the waiting part he was having issues with. The more time he had to spend waiting for this advice to produce some results the more time he had to put up with the strange stares. He couldn't quite pin it but there was something about the looks on Luffy's face when he staring at him that didn't quite sit right with Zoro.

He was quite sure a look of that much concentration had no place on Luffy's face. The fact that Luffy seemed to be concentrating on something besides a tough fight had him worried. And if there was one person he shouldn't be worried about it was Luffy. After all he had proved himself more than capable of taking care of himself. But it still bothered him that something was obviously bothering Luffy so much.

Every time he tried to find out what it was Luffy would be evasive or food would arrive and there'd be no hope of finding out anything from him. Even if he'd brought the subject back up after they'd finished eating they'd be no way Luffy would remember anything but food.

He had to try and figure out what was wrong with Luffy even if it did seem futile.

"Hey, you ok?"

"It's not the right time," Luffy replied as a smile spread over his face.

Zoro wasn't sure what to make of that response. It made absolutely no sense. There was no time to question it further as the first lot of meals arrived.

-------------------

Ace had been pleased in the morning when he'd woke to find that Sanji's mood had gone through a complete reversal. He was confused at first but decided to just go with it, the last thing he'd wanted was to be too confused to reply to the blond and have him revert to his previous attitude.

When Sanji had steered the conversation towards the Whitebeard pirates he'd been pleased. At least it was something he could converse about without having to give too much thought to his answers. He'd been a part of the Whiteberad's and them a part of him for so long that responses just came naturally.

That was part of the problem though. He hadn't been thinking when he'd suggested Sanji join. Even though he'd told himself it was a bad idea for Sanji because of his dream but he couldn't help letting it slip in conversation.

With that mistake made he'd had no choice but to get out of there fast. He didn't want to hear the aftermath of that conversation.

Since then he'd missed lunch. He'd decided that he preferred to stay deep in the forest and make his own lunch than go back to Sanji. He'd even stayed away from camp long enough to have to make his own dinner as well. He wasn't going to be able to stay away for much longer as the sky was beginning to grow dark.

It would be selfish of him not to return just because he had done something stupid. When night truly fell in Sanji was going to need him as a source of heat and he wasn't going to leave him to freeze just because he'd screwed up.

There was no point in putting it off. He got up from his mini campsite and kicked dirt over the dying embers of his fire. With everything taken care of he made his way back towards the proper campsite, albeit slower than he would usually walk.

Even his slow pace couldn't put off seeing Sanji again forever and sooner than he would have liked the edge of the forest came into view. He could see Sanji sat close to the fire poking it with a stick to keep the embers burning as he threw more dry grass on. Next to him on a large leaf was what Ace assumed to have been his share of lunch.

Ace made a flame spring from his hand to the dying fire causing it to roar back into life. There was no more hiding his presence now as Sanji turned to look at him.

"What happened to you?" Sanji asked.

"Hunting got abandoned for sleeping. I just got up a little while ago," Ace lied.

"Well help yourself to that." Sanji gestured to the pile of food.

"I already ate. First thing I did when I woke up was fix myself some food, I was starving."

"You can help yourself to it all the same. I don't believe any food should be wasted at sea."

Ace shrugged, it was a valid point. He knew from experience that you never could know where your next meal was going to come from sometimes. He made short work of the food while Sanji sat in silence.

"About earlier," Sanji began.

That was all Ace was willing to hear. Or at least pretend to hear. He collapsed against the sand and pretended to have fallen asleep. He just wasn't ready to deal with what Sanji had to say. Although his tone had started out gentle enough Ace couldn't help but feel he was going to get berated for his earlier suggestion.

He would deal with it tomorrow but right now he just wanted to avoid the issue.

Ace could feel Sanji's eyes on the back of his head. He couldn't help but wonder if the cook knew he was faking sleep or was just annoyed at being cut off like that.

"It'll probably be easier if I practice like this anyway," Sanji announced. "I would go with you, but I'm part of Luffy's crew and I've got my own dream to pursue so I can't."

Ace could curse his stupidity. That was probably as much of a confession as he was going to get from Sanji and he'd pretended to be asleep through it. It'd be far too suspicious if he woke up now to give him a response.

This was going to have to wait till morning because he'd been an idiot.

-------------------

Their dinner had soon turned into serious drinking as Zoro had ordered shot after shot of whisky once they'd finished the meals. Despite him insisting Luffy hadn't needed to stay and drink milk as he knocked back alcohol Luffy had wanted to stay.

He may have figured out that it wasn't the right moment for them to kiss but any time he spent in Zoro's company was time he enjoyed. Even if it was all spent in silence as Zoro was too busy drinking to talk to him.

Now after having being kicked out of the bar and having spent some time walking they were finally back at the ship.

"You coming to bed?" Zoro asked as he opened the hatch leading to their bedroom.

"Not just yet," Luffy replied as he bounded away.

There was something very important he wanted to share with Robin before he could go to sleep. He found her along with Nami in their shared room. Nami was sat at the desk drawing something, he assumed she was working on her latest map and Robin was sat on the bed, back against the wall, legs stretched out over the edge of the bed and book in hand.

As usual it doesn't take Robin long to realise that he was there and that he wanted something.

"Is something wrong captain-san?" Robin asked.

Luffy decided he'd have to ask her how she always knows when he's around some other time. He'd got more important things to talk about now. He explained what had happened at dinner and Robin just continued to look at him waiting for Luffy to continue.

"I was just wondering if I was right when I decided that it wasn't the right time," Luffy concluded.

"If it was what you felt at the time then you were right."

"Really?"

"Really."

There was nothing else left to say. He bounded away happy that he was finally starting to figure this kissing stuff out.

-------------------

His practice words kept floating round in his head. Were they good enough? Would Ace understand what he was trying to say? Or was he just going to sound like an idiot when he said them again tomorrow?

He had spent all afternoon deciding on whether to take a chance on Ace after he'd suggested joining Whitebeard's crew. It didn't seem like something Ace would say if he didn't have an interest in him, so his plan to find out whether Ace liked him had worked.

It had just left him with the decision of whether he wanted to act on that information or not. In the end he'd decided to take a chance with it. Sometimes the things that seemed most risky were the ones worth taking a chance on.

If he hadn't decided to take a chance on Luffy he never would have been here in the first place, no matter how much the others might have tried to force him away from them with their crappy acting skills. It had turned out to be the best chance he'd ever taken.

For all he knew this chance could turn out just as well as joining Luffy had.

_I apologise for any horrible mistakes in this, as I'm currently beta-less. I've tried my best to make sure there aren't any, but most of the time I read what I think ought to be there not what's actually there._

_As such I'm in the market for a new beta reader for this and Shizunkana Hibi no Kaidan wo. So if anyone would like to volunteer for the job you can let me know in a review or send a PM. I'd be really grateful for some help._


	9. The Beginning of Something

_I'm sorry as always for the long wait. I've had quite a few problems this past year._

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything of value so why would I own One Piece?_

Playing with Fire

The Beginning of Something

Ace was still asleep when Sanji woke the next morning. It was something he was getting used to. He wasn't sure whether it was something to be grateful for or frustrated at. On the one hand he wanted to get it over with; on the other he wasn't sure if he was doing the right thing or if he'd picked the right words to tell him.

Talking to women came easily to him. Even if he didn't always get a response from them he never had to worry about what to say. For some reason it came naturally to him. Maybe that was where he was having problems with women, he never thought out exactly what to say; just let his thoughts spill from his lips in a torrent of praise.

It didn't make sense that talking to the same gender was harder than talking to the opposite. That was probably only true if you were just friends. Then again he and Zoro were something akin to friends and couldn't keep civil conversation going for more than five minutes. The fact that he didn't know what he and Ace were only made things harder.

Did they even have something? If they did what was something?

He started to make another simple breakfast. He wished he could make something more elaborate. At least that way he would be more distracted then he was now. He thought right now he'd do just about anything to take his mind off things.

Sanji took the flint he'd found the other day when Ace had been out of action due to another bout of narcolepsy or a trip into the woods again. He couldn't remember and was sure it didn't matter. He continued to strike the two bits together whilst cursing his lighter for running out of gas. He almost wished Ace was awake; it would make this task a lot easier.

He was too preoccupied with his task at hand to notice that Ace had woken and was moving behind him. As Ace sat directly behind Sanji his legs on either side of him and arms draped over his shoulder he sparked the fire to life causing Sanji to jump back into Ace.

"I'm sorry Sanji," Ace said before Sanji had a chance to break into his rehearsed speech. "I was out of line asking you to join the Whitebeard pirates. I shouldn't have put you in that position knowing damn well you've got your own dreams. So I'm sorry."

Sanji was surprised there was no mention of Luffy in the apology. Surely it was wrong to try poaching your brother's crew and something that someone as apology conscious as Ace would probably have taken into consideration. It was probably another sign beside the fact that Ace was currently snuggled up behind him that the elder D brother did like him.

Sanji leant back his head coming to rest against Ace's shoulder. Somehow things seemed easier like this.

"You know if I wasn't already a part of Luffy's crew and didn't have my own dream then I probably would have taken you up on that offer."

"Too bad I didn't stop off at Baratie when I first set off."

"Besides have you thought what would happen to Luffy without me there?"

Ace laughed as he dropped his arms to Sanji's waist and pulled the chef closer to him.

"He'd probably try to kill me if he didn't starve to death first."

--

Luffy was sure this kissing thing was taking too long. Luffy was glad he was figuring things out but he was getting fed up of all the waiting. He wasn't a patient person. His preferred way to deal with any situation was to charge in there.

It occurred to him that maybe he should do that now. Maybe the best way for him to make it right was to just go ahead and kiss Zoro. All he knew was that kissing someone was a lot harder than it looked. He'd seen Robin and Nami kiss several times and they made it look easy.

Maybe he needed more advice but Robin seemed to have given him all the advice she was going to give him. Nami's advice was too hard to understand and Usopp's advice was too hard to follow. With Sanji unavailable that left him with Chopper or Zoro.

He wasn't sure which of them would be best to ask. Chopper was good for medical advice but this wasn't medical advice. Besides Luffy didn't even know if reindeer kissed. It would be pretty pointless to ask him about kissing if reindeer didn't kiss. He should probably find that out first before he decided whether to ask Chopper for advice.

Then there was Zoro. Luffy supposed it could be a good idea to ask Zoro. After all Zoro would know better than anyone else what he wanted when it came to kissing. On the other hand it might be weird to ask him.

Maybe the best thing for him to do would be to ask chopper first and see what the doctor had to say. If he still couldn't figure it out after that then Zoro would be his last resort. If that didn't work he could always ask Sanji when they were reunited on the next island. And Ace would be there too maybe Ace would have some advice for him too.

First things first would be to ask Chopper and see what happened. If nothing else he would find out if reindeer kissed and now that the thought had occurred to him Luffy had become curious to find out the answer.

The doctor was easily found in the storeroom pouring over one of his many medical texts.

"Chopper do reindeer kiss?" Luffy said as he burst into the storeroom.

Chopper was startled by the sudden outburst and fell off the stool he was sat on. His book fell beside him with a loud crash.

"What was that Luffy?" Chopper asked as he got to his feet.

"I said do reindeer kiss?"

"No they don't."

"Now that I think about it I don't suppose they would," Luffy said with a laugh.

"Is everything ok?"

"Yep, everything's fine."

"It's just that you've been a bit weird recently. I mean asking Usopp about kissing and now this."

"I was just wondering if reindeer kissed. I'll see you at dinner Chopper."

Without waiting for a response from Chopper Luffy disappeared from the storeroom as abruptly as he'd entered it.

--

Ace could hardly believe his luck. It had been the best morning he'd had with Sanji since they'd arrived and especially since he'd started screwing things up. He still wasn't sure exactly what was going on between the two of them but took it as a good sign that Sanji hadn't complained at having his personal space invaded first thing in the morning.

Well the chef had complained to some extent but that was because he was struggling to finish preparing breakfast with Ace's arms wrapped round him. So reluctant though Ace had been he had moved to the blond's side. He had considered telling Sanji that he wasn't very hungry since the chef seemed keenest to feed the starving but his traitorous stomach had given him away by rumbling.

It had still worked out in Ace's favour. He had moved as Sanji requested and gave him some space to work but Sanji had shifted a little so that their knees were touching as they sat cross-legged. It could have been a coincidence but Ace doubted that considering how aware of his space Sanji seemed to be.

Ace had been beginning to think his direct approach had only made things worse between the two of them but somehow everything had worked out okay. He had no idea how it had happened Ace was just grateful that because of it he had spent the latter half of the morning passed out in another narcolepsy induced slumber with his head resting on the blond's thigh.

It hadn't been till Sanji's attitude had changed that Ace had realised exactly how much he'd missed having company like this. He knew that he was finding himself increasingly lonely but having the opportunity now to experience such close contact again made it all too clear to Ace that he'd been missing it more than he had first thought.

He almost wished Sanji wasn't part of Luffy's crew and didn't have his dream so he could take the chef with him. Either that or that Blackbeard hadn't killed Sacchi (1) and he wasn't on a hunt for the traitor. That way his time would be a little freer.

The thought made him realise he hadn't checked his pose recently. He had been too preoccupied with trying figure out what was wrong with Sanji that the thought of checking his pose hadn't crossed his mind. He looked at it to see that the recording was complete.

"Looks like my recording's done," he announced.

"So what are you gonna do now?" Sanji asked.

Ace couldn't help but notice that Sanji looked somewhat apprehensive. Hadn't he told the cook that he might leave him here alone when his recording was complete so he could continue his hunt for Blackbeard? That must be what was making him seem so nervous.

Of course there was no way in hell Ace was just going to up and leave now. But Sanji didn't know that and Ace hadn't had the opportunity to tease the cook in a few days. This was too good to pass up.

He fixed the cook with a contemplative look. One he hoped made it look like he was seriously weighing up all his options. It had to be doing the trick; Sanji seemed to get more nervous.

"I think I'll…" Ace began trailing off to drag it out as long as possible. He wanted to keep it going but found himself too eager to give Sanji his answer. "…stay."

An apple came hurtling towards his head and he had to move fast to catch it. His reflexes were as good as always and the apple fell heavily into his hand.

"You did that on purpose," Sanji accused. "You knew all along you were gonna stay."

"Yup," Ace replied with a mischievous grin before biting into the apple.

--

Zoro was growing more used to Luffy seeking him out at random times of the day often for random reasons that he couldn't hope to fathom the reasoning behind. In fact it had got to the point now when his day didn't feel complete unless his captain had sought him out for an inexplicable reason.

Though today he would have been quite happy to go without a visit from Luffy.

When Luffy had found him in the galley drinking water after a training session the question the younger boy had asked had shocked him so much he was amazed he'd managed to keep the water in his mouth. He had responded appropriately enough with a 'how the hell should I know?' but what was really bothering him was why Luffy wanted to know how you went about kissing someone.

All he could think was that if Luffy was asking questions like that he wanted to kiss someone. That thought bothered him more than it should have. There was only one reason why Zoro should be as bothered as he was. He didn't want anyone else to kiss Luffy.

All of a sudden Robin's advice seemed to make some sort of sense. She'd figured out that he liked Luffy before he had and had given him the advice in the hope it would help him realise.

Though why she would give him that advice if Luffy wanted to kiss someone he couldn't figure out. Unless it was he that Luffy wanted to kiss.

His mind was reeling somewhat. In a few short minutes he had gone from complete oblivion about his feelings to having some understanding of them and a possible understanding of his captain's feelings too.

Unless of course this was all some new plot of Nami's, he could never be sure when that woman was scheming, what she was scheming or why she was doing it.

All he knew was that if Robin was dispensing advice to him it was also likely she'd given some to Luffy, especially since Luffy had been asking people for advice. If he was willing to ask Zoro for advice on kissing it stood to reason that he'd asked Robin, after all she was quite possibly the smartest person on their ship.

The problem was Nami's influence over Robin. He had no idea how much she had. The two of them were very close, that was obvious even to him. But were they so close that Robin would get involved in Nami's schemes. The woman had proved before that she was a master of deviousness but was she being devious now?

Thinking like this was getting him nowhere apart from round in circles. He had no proof that Nami was even scheming yet alone whether Robin was involved if she was. All he knew was that he liked Luffy and that he suspected Luffy might like him.

He wasn't sure what to do knowing this. How did you act around your captain once you realised you liked him?

He supposed the best thing to do would be to figure out if Luffy actually did like him. The only problem was he didn't know how to go about trying to figure that out. He could ask Robin for advice but considering his suspicions about Nami that might not be the best idea.

Even if Nami wasn't planning something asking Robin's advice would still be difficult. The two women were often together and Zoro would be damned if he was going to ask Robin for advice about Luffy with Nami around. God knew that woman didn't need any more ammunition on him than she already had.

--

The sun was setting and Sanji was snuggled into the warmth of Ace's body. Normally Ace would have been annoyed that the only reason Sanji was allowing himself to be held by him was for warmth but today had been different.

Sanji had kept some sort of contact between them almost all day and Ace had loved it. From knee to knee contact whilst sitting to having fruits passed to him and having their fingers touch rather than having them thrown at him; it was the little things like that that Ace appreciated. The day had gone so well Ace thought he could risk being a little daring.

From his position behind Sanji he shifted round to the side turning the cook's head to face him as he moved. He only had a moment to register the look of surprise on Sanji's face before he was leaning in.

He gently pressed his lips against Sanji's as he snaked his hand into blond hair. The cook gasped but didn't pull away. On the contrary he actually leaned in.

Even though every fibre of him was screaming to keep hold of Sanji and not let go Ace pulled back. He didn't want to push things too far too soon. He also wanted to gage Sanji's reaction.

As he leant back his eyes closed and his head fell forward crashing against Sanji's shoulder.

"Figures," Sanji muttered.

_(1) I wasn't sure what to call the guy Blackbeard killed. I've been used to Sacchi but I've read somewhere recently that his name's Thatch. I decided to go with Sacchi because it was what I was most used to. If anyone can shed any light on this I'd be grateful._

_Finally another chapter done. For some reason when I came round to planning this I was really excited because I thought I'd have this wrapped up in another couple of chapters. I was very much mistaken; it'll be more like 3 or 4 chapters._

_Anyway I hope you enjoyed and I apologise for any mistakes. I got in touch with the person that offered to beta for me but haven't heard back from them. I figured you guys had waited long enough so put it up un-betaed._

_Also I changed my pen name (in case you hadn't noticed) because I've been bored and fed up with everything lately. So from now on till I next get bored I'll be vicious-kitsune._

_I will write the next chapter…but will I really write the next chapter?_


	10. Burning

_Sorry for this being late, as usual. Just like my attempts at world domination, my attempts to get the rights to One Piece are going nowhere. _

_Thanks to crimsonphoenix13 for the beta work._

Playing with Fire

Burning

Zoro was surprised at how easy it was to get Robin alone. The historian was up a little after dawn to make a start on breakfast and he had been on watch during the night. So he went to offer her a hand even though it wasn't necessary with her devils fruit ability. Without a word he took the mushrooms she'd set ready to chop over to the table and began preparing them.

"Why did you tell me to spend more time with Luffy?" he asked without looking up from his task.

"Haven't you figured that out for yourself yet swordsman-san?" Robin asked back.

"I might have."

There was no point in trying to deny that he was harbouring some feelings for his captain. On a small ship it was near impossible to hide anything from your nakama unless you happened to be as devious as Nami; Zoro was fairly sure she could manage to hide a few things. If it was near impossible to hide things from the crew's dimmer members it was definitely impossible to hide anything from its most perceptive member. There was no point in lying to Robin but there was also no point in telling her the truth yet.

"Well if that's the case there's no need for me to explain my advice to you," she began, turning to smile at him. "You should know what you want to do."

He stopped chopping mushrooms and saw her smile grow wider. She was right; he should know what he wanted to do. He did know what he wanted to do.

He was just confused as to whether he should do what he wanted.

He briefly considered trying to ask Robin for more advice. She would probably just tell him to do what he thought he should. There was nothing more she could do for him. It really was all up to him to decide now.

They went back to the task of preparing breakfast in silence. Between the two of them the preparation work took half the time it normally would have. So before starting to cook everything, Robin poured two cups coffee and took a seat opposite Zoro at the table, handing him one of the cups.

"Out of curiosity swordsman-san, have you decided what you want to do in regards to our captain?"

Zoro sighed in response. He knew how she would interpret that sigh and she would be right to think it meant he wasn't sure what he was doing.

"Try not to keep him waiting too long."

What in hell she meant by that Zoro wasn't sure. The woman needed to learn to speak in a less cryptic manner as far as he was concerned. Even when she was giving advice away without being asked for it, he was still on his own.

They finished their cups of coffee and whilst Robin cooked breakfast, Zoro went round the ship to rouse the rest of the crew. Then with everyone gathered and the meal prepared, the fiasco that was breakfast on the Going Merry began.

Zoro watched Luffy as the younger boy devoured his mountain of food. It was true their captain wasn't at his best at meal times, but the fact that Zoro found a certain charm to Luffy's uncouth behaviour had to mean something.

That revelation wasn't helpful to him. It told him nothing more than what he already knew; he liked his captain but didn't know how said captain felt towards him. Zoro realised he would probably never figure out Luffy's feelings just by watching the boy.

There was only one way he could think of for figuring that out. Only problem was he had to decide whether to go through with it or not.

--

Sanji would have been lying to himself if he had tried to pretend that he wasn't disappointed with the events of the last night. He knew full well that Ace's narcolepsy could strike at the most seemingly random moments; he wasn't sure how many times he'd seen the man fall asleep in a meal for Christ's sake.

The events of last night had been somewhat unexpected to him though. Some part of him had thought Ace would be able to keep it together enough to at least see everything through before he fell asleep. He had been wrong in thinking like that though. It was quite clear to him now that he didn't understand the mechanisms of Ace's narcolepsy at all.

Disappointed as he may be, there was no way he was going to let Ace know that. The look on Ace's face since he'd woken showed that he was disappointed enough in himself. There was no need for him to make it any worse. If there was going to be any chance of things happening that evening instead, it would probably help if Ace wasn't feeling pressured to perform, so to speak.

The way Sanji saw things it was either tonight or most likely not at all. They were after all on their sixth day on this god-forsaken island. That meant tomorrow his crew would be able to come looking for him. They had arrived at the previous island in the morning so by his reasoning they should be able to set out in the morning. Considering it had taken them less than a night to get to the island there was a good chance that come tomorrow evening, they would be having company.

As far as he was concerned that wouldn't bode well for him and Ace.

He was cursing himself for at first being too ignorant to notice Ace was making advances, then too damn stubborn to admit that he was attracted to the elder D. brother. It would have given them more time. Now Sanji knew that, realistically, he was likely to get a quick fumble, which would be awkward and nowhere near as good as it had the potential to be.

It wasn't that he thought Ace or himself were going to be terrible. It was just the way first times always seemed to go from his experiences. It didn't matter how good you were; it took time to get to know another person's body. What they liked and didn't like. So consequentially, first times were awkward and it took time for them to improve.

Time that, unfortunately, they didn't have.

That wasn't to say he wasn't looking forward to being reunited with his crewmates. On the contrary he couldn't wait to see Nami and Robin again and to a lesser extent everyone else. Though maybe not Zoro.

He was definitely looking forward to having his kitchen back. Though he had to wonder what kind of state he'd be getting it back in. Depending on who had taken over cooking duties, it could turn out to be a nightmare getting the kitchen back.

That didn't matter too much to him now. He would just have to properly punish the culprit then make his kitchen his own again. Following that he could do what he had been dying to do for the past week, prepare a feast. A feast the likes of which none of them had seen in a while.

--

Zoro had been hiding all day and Luffy was sure that wasn't fair. Zoro was meant to be a swordsman, not a ninja and swordsmen weren't supposed to be as sneaky as ninjas. How was he supposed to figure out anything if Zoro kept hiding?

He was on the verge of giving up and joining Usopp and Chopper in their room when his wanderings led him to the storeroom. Just visible propped against a crate were the hilts of three swords. Wherever those swords were, their owner was bound to be.

Luffy rushed round to the other side of the crate to find said swordsman ninja asleep against it.

"Found you!" Luffy shouted, remembering how they had played hide and seek.

Zoro was quick to react, grabbing Luffy and clamping a hand over his mouth.

"Do you want Nami to hear you?" Zoro asked in a low voice. "If that damn woman finds me, she'll have me on watch again tonight and I'd rather sleep on the couch than in the crow's nest again."

Luffy tried to apologise but the large, calloused hand over his mouth prevented anything more than a muffled sound making it past his lips. He was about to run his tongue over Zoro's hand, hoping it would make the swordsman pull it away when Zoro started talking again.

"If I let you go will you keep your voice down?"

Luffy nodded and Zoro removed his hand as agreed.

"Sorry Zoro," Luffy said in as hushed a tone as he was capable of using. "Least now I know why you were being a ninja. You were just trying to hide from Nami."

"So you've been playing at ninjas to hide from me?" Nami questioned from the doorway causing both of them to jump, knocking over Zoro's swords. "Zoro, you can get up that crow's nest right now before your interest grows exponentially."

Zoro grabbed up his swords, resigned to his fate of spending another night up in the crow's nest.

"I'm sending you to hell one day," he all but growled as he strode past Nami.

"I know and I'm looking forward to it," she replied with a smile that only Luffy could see.

"Well g'night Nami," Luffy announced as he leapt up and hurried out the storeroom after Zoro.

Zoro had been quick in getting up to the crow's nest. By the time Luffy was out on deck there was no sign of him climbing up the mast. He wasted no time in stretching his arms and catapulting himself up to join the swordsman.

For once Luffy managed to make something of a graceful landing. Or at least as graceful as he could ever manage, his limbs slightly tangled but not with someone else's.

"What the hell are you doing?" Zoro asked as Luffy untangled himself and crouched down next to him. "You don't have to be up here, you could be sleeping in a hammock or on the couch."

"I want to be here instead," Luffy said.

"Idiot."

Most people would have been insulted, Luffy knew that. But he never minded when his crew called him an idiot, especially if it was Zoro calling him an idiot. It had almost become like a term of endearment to him, because he knew, despite anything they may call him, they would all follow him to the end of the Grand Line. So he couldn't help the grin that spread over his face.

With his eyes closed he had no way to see what was coming. But he felt it, a strong, calloused hand at the back of his neck and a pair of lips against his own. Before he could respond Zoro was pulling away, looking almost like he expected Luffy to send him crashing to the deck.

"That's not fair," Luffy complained as he resisted the urge to smile at the look of confusion on Zoro's face. It clearly wasn't the reaction the swordsman had expected. "You ruined all my hard work in trying to figure out the right time to kiss you."

"You really are an idiot," Zoro stated. "Any time would have been fine."

With that said he leant in again to place another kiss against Luffy's lips.

--

Robin had heard the entire exchange between Luffy and Zoro as she was making her way back to her room with two mugs of hot chocolate. She couldn't help smiling to herself, happy that the two of them had finally heeded her advice.

Back in the room, she handed Nami the mug of steaming liquid and took a seat on the bed.

"It would seem Swordsman-san has finally acted on my advice," Robin stated as she fingered the spine of a book.

"Finally," Nami said, exasperation evident in her voice. "I swear if those two had taken any longer I was going to force them together myself."

Robin let out a small chuckle. Nami really could be the most impatient person at times. And a part of her loved her for it.

--

Sanji was snuggled to his side; the fire casting light onto him that danced across his lithe form in time to the fire's flickering. Ace didn't think he'd ever seen Sanji looking more beautiful. But he didn't dare tell the cook that. He knew that to Sanji, women were things of beauty; gods only knew if he'd think Ace was insulting all women by calling him beautiful.

It was best not to risk it even though he may not get another chance for a very long time. Tonight was probably going to be their last night alone together and whilst Ace didn't want it to end they both had things they had to do.

So tonight was his last chance to make up for his failure the previous night. He didn't know how far it would be safe to take things with Sanji but he knew the cook would tell him if he was uncomfortable and he wouldn't step past any boundaries the blond set. But by gods he was going to take it as far as he would be allowed.

He tilted Sanji's head gently and pressed his lips against the cook's, tasting the multitude of spices and tobacco that made up his unique taste. Sanji didn't protest, on the contrary he leaned into the kiss, pressing his body closer to Ace's.

Ace took the opportunity to deepen the kiss, letting his tongue slip out to run across Sanji's bottom lip; asking permission to taste more of the cook's intoxicating flavour. Sanji complied, opening his mouth a little and using his tongue to draw Ace into him.

To have the cook respond to him so willingly was more than Ace had expected. He had thought there would have been a little resistance but Sanji was putting up none. It fuelled Ace to push further.

Not breaking their kiss Ace lay Sanji down on the sand and straddled the cook. His fingers moved to the tie. This would be the real test. If Sanji protested now Ace knew he would have to respect the others wishes and just curl up next to him for the night. But again no resistance came as his fingers worked at the knot and slipped the tie from round his neck.

There was still no protest as his fingers moved down to unbutton the blond's shirt.

--

His flesh burnt wherever Ace's fingers or lips touched. Even after they had moved on to another part of his body his flesh still seared from the contact. Despite his mind being hazed Sanji knew this was nothing to do with the mera mera fruit.

The pleasant burning began to fade as Ace lay next to him, holding him gently and placing soft kisses to his brow. All he could do was lie there, almost as exhausted as he would have been after an intense fight, with his arms draped over Ace's waist as he slowly drifted to sleep.

_So this is the first step in my attempt to finish this fic within the year. Surprisingly the next chapter is almost ready too so hopefully the wait for that won't be too long. The other chapters will take longer to get done cos of three 2000-2500 word essays and one 1000 word critique, only one of which I've actually done. I'm hoping that I'll get some time between finishing the essays and starting the exams to get another chapter done but since I don't have my exam timetable yet I don't know if I'll have enough time._

_Anyway, thanks for reading and please leave a review._

_I will write the next chapter…but will I really write the next chapter._


	11. Reunited

_Feels strange not having to make an apology for being late with this chapter. Don't own._

_Thanks to crimsonphoenix13 for betaing. _

Playing with Fire

Reunited

Sanji was not surprised to find Ace still asleep when he woke up; it was a fairly regular occurrence. He was quite glad this morning, as he found there was a certain charm to the satisfied look the elder man was wearing. Sanji would have liked to sit and watch Ace sleep, but there was the pressing matter of dealing with sand that was in places sand had no right to be.

He had to be careful as he moved the arm that was draped around his waist. Even if he couldn't sit and watch Ace sleep, Sanji thought the other man deserved to sleep a little longer with that look on his face.

With the arm moved to Ace's chest, he grabbed his clothes from where they lay discarded, only bothering to slip on his boxers, trousers and shoes before heading off through the forest. When he reached the hot springs he stripped the few layers he'd bothered to put on and began to wash away all traces of the last night's activities, hoping the water would wash away the sand.

As he was relaxing, sinking further into the water, Ace joined him, slipping his legs in the water around Sanji's shoulders. Ace's arms wrapped round Sanji's neck as he leant forwards to place a kiss to the cook's head.

"I had hoped you'd be there when I woke up," Ace complained.

"Maybe if you kept a blanket I wouldn't have sand in places it doesn't belong and wouldn't have had to leave for a bath when I woke," Sanji explained.

"You make a fair point," Ace conceded, "but if I'd kept a blanket none of this would have happened."

"That might be true."

"I think it is," Ace said as he slid into the water next to Sanji. "But don't you think it worked out better this way?"

"Alright it probably has worked out better this way but…" Sanji admitted as Ace trailed kisses down his jaw and neck. "That doesn't mean I have to be happy about an ass full of sand!"

He could see Ace trying to hold back the laughter and he could tell he wasn't going to succeed at that for long. Despite wanting to scowl at Ace he couldn't help smiling because there wasn't going to be much more time left for these moments. Even if he was smiling he could still argue; he wanted to be able to enjoy a playful argument with Ace while he still could.

Before he could form any more arguments about the lack of a blanket, even though he had to admit now that he was glad there hadn't been one, that now pleasantly familiar burning sensation began to spread over his body wherever Ace's hands roamed. That was saying nothing for the constant heat at his neck where Ace's lips seemed to be taking up residence. Even if his arguments would only have been for the sake of enjoying one of their last moments, Sanji still felt somewhat annoyed about them being so effectively silenced.

Even if he was enjoying what Ace's hands and lips were doing to him.

--

Zoro was never comfortable after waking from a night in the crow's nest. Even though it was true he could fall asleep anywhere he preferred to sleep somewhere that offered him the room to spread out. Still he was happy to be waking up with Luffy snuggled against his chest, both of them holding the boy's treasure secure in his lap, with Zoro's hands just managing to hide Luffy's.

If he stopped and thought about it this was probably something he'd wanted since early in their journey, which considering he had been the first to join Luffy was a very long time. But stopping and thinking had never been his strong suit and the situation over the past few days had only proved that to him.

His attempts at trying to think everything through logically had only lead to everything being drawn out much longer than was necessary. If he'd carried on trying to think the situation through he might have ended up not kissing Luffy.

It was pretty clear to him that thinking was not really his strong suit. Actions had always been his best course and with that in mind he placed a kiss to the top of Luffy's head.

The boy stirred beneath him, eyes slowly opening to look up at Zoro.

"Mornin'," Luffy mumbled, sleep laced in his voice, causing to Zoro to smile down at him.

It wasn't his usual smile, the one he wore in the moment he cut down his opponent; this smile was different and he knew it.

"Morning," he replied as he kissed Luffy's cheek.

Luffy beamed up at him and somehow the smile seemed different to Zoro too. Luffy's smiles were always genuine, always from his heart; Zoro was pretty much certain of that. It was hard to describe, but something about this smile seemed even more genuine to him, though how that was even possible Zoro didn't know. The thought that it was he that had made Luffy smile like that made him smile even more.

"You sleep well?" Zoro asked.

"Yep," Luffy replied, "cos it was just like being drunk."

"How exactly was it like being drunk?"

"I had a comfy Zoro to snuggle up against just like that time I was drunk. Remember?"

Remember? How could he forget? That whole evening had been a disaster that had ended with Luffy having a warped perspective on what being drunk was. Zoro despaired that Luffy's idea of being drunk was having someone comfortable to snuggle up to.

"I thought I already told you being drunk isn't snuggling up to someone. Being drunk is…" he trailed off. "Well it's hard to describe but it's kinda like having no control if I remember rightly."

"I still think I'm right. I was drunk recently and you haven't been drunk in all the time I've known you. How can you possibly know what being drunk is?"

As he contemplated trying to explain what being drunk was despite his captain being adamant that Zoro had no idea what being drunk was, Nami called them down to breakfast.

Before he could stop Luffy the dark haired teen had grabbed him and sent them both crashing down to the deck. Zoro thumped Luffy's head, no matter how much he may like his captain, some things he would never forgive and crashing him to the deck early in the morning was definitely one of them.

--

Breakfast on the Going Merry was the standard disaster. But with Luffy's thievery it was as ever, over fast, which for once was something for the crew to be grateful for. With the meal finished, they were able to set about making their final preparations as they waited the last hour or so for the pose to finish its recording.

Once everything was cleared away, properly stored and with the recording finished the Straw Hats were able to set sail to reunite with their nakama.

--

Ace felt his stomach churn a little as the Going Merry came into view. It meant that by this time tomorrow he would be on his own once more. Despite that he couldn't help smiling when he was able to make out Luffy sat on the ram's head waving his arms above his head. Then as the ship came even closer he could hear Luffy calling out demands for meat.

At that Sanji stood up and joined him, casually resting a hand on his shoulder.

"I bet he couldn't see me when he started making those demands," Sanji complained.

Ace was more than happy with the contact. He had expected any physical contact, no matter how slight, to be out the window once they were in site of the rest of the Straw Hats.

"You complain, but I bet you can't wait to get back into your kitchen and start making a feast."

"That's true. I think it's an automatic reflex to complain at his unreasonable demands."

Ace found himself unable to do anything but laugh at that statement.

With the ship docked Sanji was quick to leap aboard and kick Luffy out the way whilst telling him to be patient as he went to lavish praise on Nami and Robin. He could hear the others laugh as Luffy complained about having been kicked aside and Nami fobbed off Sanji's advances.

In that moment Ace felt like there was no place for him. When they had been in Alabasta it had been different. Then he had been nothing more than Luffy's brother and somehow that made a big difference.

Now he felt like he would be lying to them by not being honest about the relationship with Sanji, if it could even be called that considering they were about to part. Despite being a pirate and more than prone to doing an eat and run, Ace liked being honest with people. At least with people that he considered friends.

Part of him thought it might be better if he just got in his skiff and sailed away. As he gave serious thought to the idea Sanji turned to him and demanded he get on the ship before he had to go down there and kick him on board. In spite of the threat the look in his eyes made it impossible for Ace to refuse so he jumped on board to the enthusiastic greetings of Luffy and the others.

--

Luffy thought it was a bit strange that Ace was in the kitchen helping Sanji to prepare the meal when the two of them could have been catching up. After all Ace and Sanji had spent the past week alone together. Surely Ace had nothing left to say to Sanji now except 'meat' whenever he was hungry.

But being sat on the ram's head leaning back against Zoro's chest in that comfy drunken way, looking forward to eating every last scrap of meat that was being made for him and planning tomorrow's adventures, it didn't seem that important.

When Sanji called them in for dinner, Luffy was disappointed to find the cook hadn't cooked every bit of meat on board like he'd thought he would. Still it was a feast compared to what he'd been eating for the past week so he really couldn't complain about it.

As they ate he and Ace traded their adventure stories. Though Luffy was disappointed that Ace seemed to know everything he'd been up to. He supposed that was inevitable since Sanji would have already told him everything that the crew had been up to. Still he would have liked to see a look of surprise on Ace's face when he told him about Skypia. After all not many people got to go to an island in the sky. He had to imagine how surprised Ace must have looked after Sanji told him to satisfy himself.

"When are you going to leave Ace?" Luffy asked.

"Tomorrow, as early as possible."

"Can't you stay a little bit longer? You could join us for tomorrow's adventure."

"I've had as many adventures as this island has to offer. Besides, things to do, people to hunt."

"We'll have more fun with more of us. I bet this island will be loads more fun now there's more than just you and Sanji here."

"I'm sure it would be fun but it wasn't so bad with just the two of us. And like I said, things to do."

"You'll at least stay for breakfast though, right?"

"Probably."

"What do you mean probably?" Sanji cut in. "At least have a decent meal before you bugger off."

"All right, I'll stay for breakfast at least."

"If you're staying for breakfast you might as well stay a bit longer," Luffy tried.

"Breakfast is one thing, but a bit longer is something else."

"Just face it Luffy, breakfast is the best you're gonna get," Sanji said.

"Don't even bother trying to pout, that's never worked on me," Ace said as he saw Luffy's face begin to turn into a pout.

After pudding and coffees had been served, everyone but Sanji and Ace went to bed. It was normal for Sanji to stay up later than everyone else as he cleaned the kitchen. That was part of his job as chef but it wasn't Ace's.

So once more he was left feeling confused. The two of them had got along well when they had been in Alabasta, but they hadn't seemed that close. He could only assume that over the past week the two of them had become better friends. With only each other for company it made sense that they would have gotten closer. He could only assume that they were going to miss each other's company, because he could think of no other explanation for it.

In the end it didn't matter all that much to him. He was curious about it, but he was also tired and wanted nothing more than to curl up to sleep next to Zoro on a hammock, as nobody had to take watch on a deserted island. The only thing that really mattered to him right now was enjoying that snugly drunken feeling.

_There's one more chapter and then possibly an epilogue to come and this will be finished. I've got fairly far with the next chapter since I finished all the reading for my essays that I could do at home but couldn't actually start them cos I needed more books. Now I'm back at uni I've got full access to the books I need so should probably crack on with the essays. So I've no idea how long it'll take me to get that chapter finished. Hopefully I'll find some time between essay writing but no promises._

_I will write the next chapter…but will I really write the next chapter._


	12. Goodbye

_The only thing I own right now is my hang over. Thanks to crimsonphoenix13 for her beta work. _

Playing with Fire

Goodbye

When he and Sanji had gone to bed after cleaning the kitchen the couch had been left free. The sight of Luffy and Zoro curled up on the same hammock had intrigued them both. He had spared a thought for how they'd managed that feat before squishing up next to Sanji on the couch.

He had been surprised when the cook had said as long as everyone was asleep when they went down to the room it would be ok for them to sleep together as long as there was no funny business. Since Sanji was always the first one to wake up in order to prepare breakfast they were unlikely to be caught.

Still, it had been a risk on Sanji's part but Ace was glad he had taken it. It had given them one more night together.

Now they were both stood on deck as the sun was rising. Sanji would soon have to start breakfast and something told Ace that Robin would be rising before long. It was true that he barely knew the woman but he got the impression that she was an early bird.

That meant the brief amount of time that he had left to hold Sanji in his arms was slipping away.

"Y'know, part of me just wants to leave now," Ace said.

"I wasn't joking when I said you needed a decent meal before you left."

"I know you weren't but if I left now I could say goodbye to you how I'd like."

"How would you like to say goodbye?"

"You sure you want to risk it? If someone catches us you won't be happy."

"I'm sure, as long as you make it quick."

Ace turned him round and tilted his head up as Sanji wrapped the arm that wasn't holding his cigarette over his shoulder. For the last time he moved his head, his lips closing in on Sanji's. He took his last taste of spices and cigarettes. He hadn't been familiar with it for long but he knew he was going to miss that taste.

Suddenly Sanji pulled away with an exclamation of pain. He dropped the cigarette he'd been holding to the deck and stamped it out. Even if he'd wanted the kiss to continue it was probably for the best. After all Sanji had said to make it quick for a reason, anyone could be joining them on deck at any minute.

"That's our proper goodbye," Sanji said as he leaned up and placed a kiss to Ace's cheek. "Whatever happens later, whatever we say, that won't be our real goodbye."

"Whatever happens later I'll definitely prefer this one," Ace said as he kissed Sanji's brow.

"Well breakfast won't cook itself, you gonna make yourself useful again?"

"Sure, even if that was our goodbye I still want to spend whatever time I can with you."

--

Zoro was glad he'd woken up early to do some training before Luffy woke up. Considering how Luffy had pestered him when they weren't dating; if they even were dating, neither had asked the other but he got the feeling it wouldn't matter between them, he had a feeling it was only going to get worse from now on.

Instead of finding an empty deck he had found Sanji and Ace, the latter holding the former in his arms. He had debated whether he should go back to the room and wait ten minutes. Something told him Sanji and Ace wouldn't be out on deck long, he doubted the cook wanted to be caught. But if he stayed it would give him something to use against Sanji when the cook teased him about Luffy.

Without realising what he was doing he had ended up staying. Apparently Nami wasn't the only member of the crew that could be devious. He hadn't known he had it in him.

He did feel guilty. It really was something he had no right to see but it was too late. He was only going to use this if Sanji was ever a real asshole about him and Luffy. A little light teasing he could take but anything more and he would make sure Sanji knew that he knew because it would be hypocritical of Sanji to do anything more than tease him.

This was of course all hypothetical. There was quite a good chance now that Sanji wouldn't even tease; not now he could understand that people have feelings not based on gender but on whom the other person is. Liking someone, loving someone, they were things that couldn't be determined by gender.

It seemed like Sanji understood that, which Zoro found more shocking than the realisation that he liked Luffy.

Zoro was sure he had waited at least ten minutes since he had seen Sanji and Ace. He couldn't be definite since his thoughts had been a bit jumbled, after all it wasn't every day you saw the supposedly straightest member of the crew kiss a man. Even if he wasn't sure of the exact amount of time that had passed, he was certain that it was enough for him to safely come out on deck and start training like he'd intended.

When he had finished lifting weights it was still a little early for breakfast. But he was thirsty so headed for the kitchen, nodding in greeting at Robin whom was sat out on deck drinking coffee and reading a book whilst waiting for breakfast. He was grateful, he was fairly certain he could handle the rest of the crew's questions about him and Luffy but it was Sanji he was concerned about.

Sanji was the one who's response Zoro couldn't guess at. Especially now.

"Breakfast nearly ready?" Zoro asked as he walked in and got himself a glass of water.

"Morning Zoro," Ace beamed. Zoro had to hand it to him for putting on a good act, earlier he had seemed unhappy at the prospect of leaving but he wouldn't have guessed that from how he was behaving now.

"Nearly," Sanji said. "So you and Luffy…"

"Yeah, me and Luffy."

"Got to admit I never saw that coming."

"Got to admit I didn't either."

Sanji actually laughed. This was probably the best the two of them had got on in the entire time they'd known each other. By the looks of things he wouldn't have to say anything to the chef about being hypocritical.

"Well as long as you look after him you've got my blessing," Ace said cutting of Sanji's laughter.

"Thanks," Zoro replied somewhat taken aback, by giving his blessing Ace was making it seem like Zoro had just proposed to Luffy, "but Luffy looks after himself mostly. Sure he causes trouble but he gets himself out eventually."

"That's true. But an elder brother still worries so I feel better knowing you'll be looking out for him."

Zoro just nodded in response to show he would look out for Luffy. If the conversation carried on he was going to end up feeling awkward and embarrassed. It had been years since he'd felt like that and he certainly didn't want to be feeling like it again.

"Y'know," Sanji announced breaking the brief silence, "I'm really surprised, I always thought you were asexual."

Maybe he would have to let Sanji know that he knew after all.

--

Luffy knew his crew thought he was probably unobservant; for the most part they were probably right. But some things he did notice and it was usually the people around him. That was how he knew there was something wrong with Ace.

To everyone else Ace seemed his usual, cheerful self but Luffy could tell that he wasn't as happy as he was letting everyone think he was. Ace was his brother; it was easier for him to tell that something was wrong with him than it was for him to tell with anyone else and there was definitely something wrong.

He just had no idea what it could be.

It could have been that they were going to part soon but they had done that before and he had got the impression that Ace was a bit sad but not like this. It was possible he was going to miss Sanji. The other night he had assumed the two of them had got closer as friends so it was a possibility but somehow all the pieces didn't seem to add up quite right.

In the end he had no idea what could be troubling his brother. He did know that if Ace wanted others to know, including him, then Ace would have let them know. Whatever it was it was a secret.

Even if Ace wasn't as happy as he seemed breakfast was still a lot of fun. Breakfast was always fun. So were lunch, dinner and snack times.

Ace's acting was convincing enough for everyone else and whatever was bothering Ace, Luffy knew that it was something that, in the end, would be all right.

So he did the only thing he could. He let it be and enjoyed his meal with everyone else. Not to mention everyone else's meal.

Once the meal was over it was time for Ace to leave. They all gathered out on the deck, surrounding Ace, as he stood against the railing ready to leave.

"Well then, I guess this is it," Ace said.

"Thanks for taking care of Sanji all this time. We'd have been in real trouble if he'd frozen to death," Nami said.

"Yeah, I'm sure only a professional chef can handle cooking for Luffy."

"And even they can struggle sometimes."

Ace laughed. "I'm sure they can. Zoro I hope you remember what we talked about earlier."

"Don't worry about it," Zoro said as he placed an arm over Luffy's shoulder.

"Will we see you again Ace?" Chopper asked eagerly.

"Who knows, the Grand Line is a big place so maybe we will and maybe we won't."

"We will, at the end," Luffy said without a trace of doubt in his voice. "You have to be there to see me become the Pirate King."

"Maybe you have to be there to see Whitebeard become the Pirate King."

"It'll be interesting either way," Sanji said. "I'm looking forward to it."

"Yeah, so am I," Ace agreed. "Guess I'll at least be seeing you at Raftel, if not before."

Ace took Sanji's hand and gave it a quick shake before he grabbed his little brother from under Zoro's arm and embraced him.

"So I'll see you around at some point," Ace said as he jumped off the ship.

"Bye Ace," Luffy shouted as he waved his arms wildly above his head and watched his brother depart the island.

--

Ace's departure had not been easy on him, though he had played his part just as well as Ace had. The two of them had seemed nothing more than good friends when they clasped hands in farewell. But it hadn't been easy for him and he was sure it wasn't easy for Ace either.

They had managed though. So he had stayed out on deck under the pretence of enjoying a cigarette whilst he watched Ace sail away. He had waited till he was out of sight before he returned to the kitchen to clean up. Not having to clean up had been the best part about cooking on the island. He was more than glad to have his kitchen back but he was not glad to be cleaning up after Luffy again.

When the others had gone to explore the island he had declined joining them. He had taken Nami and Robin aside to give them directions to the hot springs though, as he had a feeling the two of them would rather leave the others and go take a relaxing bath, than stay and follow Luffy on another crazy adventure.

Instead, he had spent the day in the kitchen baking a multitude of cakes, biscuits and various other snacks. He really had missed the kitchen and a day of mass baking had helped with that. Besides it had also been the best way he could think of to take his mind off of Ace.

Luffy had been ecstatic when they had returned to see not only a substantial amount of meat ready for dinner but also a mountain of baked goods. Nami hadn't been quite so pleased since he'd taken a fairly decent chunk out of their supplies. Once he'd assured her everything would last for a very long time, she seemed to be appeased. He thought divulging the hot springs location had also worked in his favour.

Now he was out on the deck wondering exactly what he was going to do. Nami may have forgiven him today for the excessive baking but he couldn't keep doing it as a means to forget about Ace.

"Hey, you alright?" Zoro asked from behind him.

Sanji turned to face him, startled. He hadn't heard the swordsman approach. He was clearly too preoccupied.

"Fine. You want something?"

"Luffy wants another cookie or rock cake or…you know what, I forgot what he wants, probably everything. He wouldn't shut up about it and is driving the rest of us below deck mad so I said I'd come and ask you if he could. It was the only way to shut him up."

"Don't tell me there's trouble with you and Luffy already."

"Luffy is trouble. End of story."

"That's true. Well he can't. I told Nami that stuff would last but it won't if the captain gets at it all."

"Figured as much. Like I said I only told him I'd ask to shut him up."

"And I think the only reason he asked you to ask was as a diversion," Sanji said as he saw the hatch to the boy's room start to lift up. "What do you think you're doing?" he demanded as his eyes met Luffy's through the small opening the boy had created.

"But Sanji I'm hungry," Luffy whined as he threw open the hatch and climbed up enough so half his torso was fully visible. "And you made so much food I can't let it go to waste."

"Tough, you eat it all now and it will go to waste. That stuff will last as long as it's kept away from your cavernous maw. So get back to bed now."

"But…"

"I'm not starving for you," Zoro said as he made his way to Luffy. "If Sanji says that food's not gonna go off then it won't and we can eat it for days. But if you eat it all now he's only gonna have to bake more and we'll all go hungry so get to bed and just dream about it till breakfast."

"You two are stingy," Luffy declared as he stuck his tongue out at them and ducked back down below.

"I'll try to keep him in check," Zoro offered as he too made his way below deck.

"Thanks," Sanji called after him.

It looked like he would have something to take his mind off Ace. Even with Zoro trying to keep their captain in check, Sanji was sure he was going to have to come up with some new and imaginative ways to stop Luffy's food thievery.


	13. Epilogue

Playing with Fire

Epilogue

The week had passed slower than Sanji had expected. He had thought that being reunited with Nami and Robin and having the kitchen back would have distracted him from the fact that Ace had left. But it hadn't turned out how he had thought.

Of course he was thrilled to be back with Nami and Robin. He loved being able to dote on the two ladies again, and there was no doubt that he loved being back in his kitchen, finally being able to concoct some decent dishes with the new herbs he'd found on the island.

That was during the day, but at night with nothing new or exciting to distract him, he had found himself wondering how Ace was more often than he would have liked. Zoro and Luffy weren't exactly helping the situation. They were acting so happy, well some of the time they seemed quite happy, the rest of the time they were just as they always had been; the moment Luffy did anything really stupid, Zoro was the first to give him a decent thump.

Still even if in a lot of ways the two of them still seemed to be the same, they weren't. It just reminded him that he wasn't the same. Not anymore.

Now the pose had finished recording and they were ready to move on. It was strange to think he was leaving. The island had seemed to have nothing to offer when he had first arrived two weeks ago with Ace, but he had been wrong about that.

As they set sail from the island he could only look back at it and hope he'd see Ace again, one day.

**Owari**

_Finally all finished. I'd like to thank crimsonphoenix13 for helping me out with the betaing the past few chapters, everyone who read this, everyone who favourited this story or me as an author because of this story and last but by no means least everyone who reviewed. I know it probably doesn't seem like it but you guys really kept me going. _

_I'm going to hide under my duvet till the hang over goes away. _


End file.
